Artists who once flocked to the Medici turned to other patrons “who competed to procure the most masterpieces,” Mr. Schmidt said. Mr. Schmidt has positioned a Hellenistic-era head known as the Dying Alexander next to the Doni Tondo, in part to accentuate Michelangelo’s relationship to antique sculpture. The Uffizi has one of the world’s greatest collections of antique sculpture, though it is often dwarfed by the richness of the painting collection. Raphael’s “Madonna of the Goldfinch,” also in this room, was painted for the Nasi family, another prominent dynasty of the time. It has been moved here from a long corridor in the gallery so packed with paintings that many visitors paid it no attention.

Source: New York Times June 08, 2018 07:52 UTC