Medici Riccardi Palace, Gallery of Mirrors (or Room Luca Giordano): “Jupiter and the apotheosis of the Medici”, detail of the vault. Frescoes by Luca Giordano, 1682 - 1685. The scene is placed in the centre of the vault. It shows Jupiter on the high summit of a mountain of clouds, surrounded by six members of the Medici family. Cosimo I (on the right, with the attributes of Prudence) and Francesco I (on the left, with the attributes of Justice; uncertain identification) are recognizable on the sides of the supreme god; at the bottom is Ferdinand II (central character with the club and the lion at one's feet, symbols of Fortitude). Even further down are Cosimo III, wrapped in a red cloak while he tempers a red-hot iron in water (an idealized portrait, in order to depict the Grand Duke as the personification of Temperance), and on the sides the latter's children: Gian Gastone ( on the left) and Ferdinand (on the right), both on white horses. All six of these personalities are charact...
Caption


Medici Riccardi Palace, Gallery of Mirrors (or Room Luca Giordano): “Jupiter and the apotheosis of the Medici”, detail of the vault.
Frescoes by Luca Giordano, 1682 - 1685.

The scene is placed in the centre of the vault. It shows Jupiter on the high summit of a mountain of clouds, surrounded by six members of the Medici family. Cosimo I (on the right, with the attributes of Prudence) and Francesco I (on the left, with the attributes of Justice; uncertain identification) are recognizable on the sides of the supreme god; at the bottom is Ferdinand II (central character with the club and the lion at one's feet, symbols of Fortitude). Even further down are Cosimo III, wrapped in a red cloak while he tempers a red-hot iron in water (an idealized portrait, in order to depict the Grand Duke as the personification of Temperance), and on the sides the latter's children: Gian Gastone ( on the left) and Ferdinand (on the right), both on white horses. All six of these personalities are characterized by the presence of a star on their heads which symbolizes the Medici satellites, that is. those that Galileo Galilei discovered in 1610 and dedicated to the Florentine grand ducal family.
Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Firenze (FI) - Florence, Toscana - Tuscany, Italia - Italy

Date

Jul 20, 2017

Credit line

Ghigo Roli/Photo12

Reference

GHR26A00_106

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Rights managed

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104.2Mb (5.1Mb) / 16.4in x 24.6in / 4928 x 7392 (300dpi)

Keywords

Cardinal Virtue Medici Riccardi Palace Fresco Allegory Cupid Apotheosis Aristocracy Art Baroque Horse Club Cosimo I De' Medici Cosimo III De' Medici God Divinity Ferdinando De' Medici Ferdinando II De' Medici Florence Fortitude Francesco I De' Medici Galileo Galilei Gian Gastone De' Medici Giove Jupiter Justice Il Seicento 17th Century Italy Lion Luca Giordano Medici Mythology Nobility Cloud Olympus Artwork Palazzo Medici Riccardi Painting Prudence Putto Star Temperance Tuscany Vault Zeus

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