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Museums and Libraries
The Medieval and Modern Collection
The Medieval and Modern Collection is most rich in documented material.
This collection is enriched by a series of tableaus, paintings and
canvasses which belong to the Gallery of the Uffizi and left in
deposit at the Academy museum. The paintings are ofor the most part
displayed in Sala II of the Biscione and when possible in chronological
order starting clockwise from the wall to the left of the main entrance.
In particular one should admire:
-Madonna with Child and the protectors of Cortona, saints Michael,
Vincenzo, Margherita and Marco, the latter holds a model of the
city of Cortona. It is a tondo datable to 1523 and recently attributed
by critics to Luca Signorelli.
-Madonna with Child giving a blessing with San Giovannino. The other
tondo is attributed to Pinturicchio (1454-1513).
On the wall to the right of the entrance door one finds:
-The Miracle of Saint Benedict attributed to the Florentine Baccio
Ciarpi (1597-1654).
-Madonna and Saints, a large altar painting originally displayed
in the church Sant'Agostino, by Pietro Berrettini (1597-1669), better
knoiwn as Pietro da Cortona.
In Sala IV (Hall 4) the works of the
Tuscan schools of the thirteenth and fourteenth century are gathered.
One should admire a mosaic from the end of the fourteenth century
with Greek inscription which comes from the demolished church of
Sant'Andrea.
In the successive Sala V (Hall 5), Sala VI (Hall 6) and Sala VII
(Hall 7) objects and paintings are displayed which come from the
inheritance left to the Academy by member Gerolamo Tommasi which
includes among other things, bedroom furnishings of Giovanbattista
Tommasi (1731-1803) who was the Gran Maestro of the Order of the
Maltese Cross. A number of the objects are reminders of this order
which was active from the middle ages in Cortona in social services
with foundation of hospital structures.
In the vast Medician Hall
(Sala VIII - Hall 8), which was the reception hall, one should admire
the portraits of some of the Lucomone dell Accademia (Presidents
of the Academy) and in the successivve Sala X (Hall 10) the Tempietto
Ginori ( The Little Temple of Ginori). It was offered as a gift
in 1756 to academy by Marquis Carlo Ginori on the occasion of his
nomination as Lucomone. The pieces was made in the factory of Doccia
near
Florence, and is of a refined Roccocco taste decorated with allegorical
figures. The center figures represent Beauty being taken away by
Time. There are also 76 medallions attached with portraits of members
of the Medici family, taken from a series of commemorative medals
by Antonio Selvi which are part of the museum collection. On the
walls a fresco depicts the Annunciation and is a work of Salvi Castellucci
a student of Pietro of Cortona, it is signed and dated 1632. In
the cases below the Annunciation,there are some significant medals
by Antonio Salvi (1679-1753) and Bartolomeo Vegelli (died in 1744).
The collection of the medals continues in Sala IX ( Hall 9), where
there is also an extensive numismatic collection with Roman and
Etruscan coins. ONe should admire the collection of seals of the
city, the confraternities and the churches of Cortna.
The Medieval and Modern collection finishes
in Sala I ( Hall 1) where some of the works of the Cortonese painter
Gino Severini (1883-1966) are on display. Gathered together are
portraits produced in youth such as the portrait of his grandmother
Adelaide from 1903, La Bohemienne from 1905, portrait of his father
from 1907 and the very well know Maternity from 1916 along with
numerous drawings and gouache paintings done in maturity and drenched
with Cubist and Futurist allusions.
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