Francesco Marchissi, ‘Sala dei Pittori’ (detail), c. 1760. Vienna, Nationalbibliothek

The Uffizi collection of artists’ self-portraits, the majority of which is today secreted away in the Vasari Corridor, is the product of several important events in the history of collecting by the Grand Ducal families in Florence. This paper will discuss the various approaches to the acquisition and display of self-portraits across the Medici and Lorraine Grand-Duchies, their changing locations and their significance to the evolution of the broader gallery. First collected throughout the seventeent century and brought to the Uffizi around the turn of the eighteenth century, in many respects the early programs for their arrangement were an important antecedent to the overall organization of objects in the gallery and in other European collections. Continuing into the eighteenth century, we will look at the post-Medici approach to the growing collection and the various personnel (including the artists themselves) who played a role in the evolving display.

Melbourne Portrait Group Website: http://melbourneportraitgroup.wordpress.com/

Venue: Dulcie Hollyock Room, Ground Floor, Baillieu Library (Building 177), University of Melbourne, Parkville (map).

Date: Monday 13 October, 6:30pm.