The monumental palace of the Medici Grand Dukes houses numerous
collections of works of art. First and foremost are the paintings
in the Galleria Palatina. From my experience many people prefer
this gallery to the Uffizi because the paintings are displayed
in their original setting and there are many less tourists.
If
the Uffizi is hung as an art history lesson, the Galleria Palatina,
with its marvellous stuccoed and frescoed ceilings, seems a
haphazard mixture of dates and schools. It is an excellent example
of Baroque
taste, neglecting earlier painting in favour of the great artists
of the High Renaissance, especially Raphael, Titian and Andrea
del Sarto, and the 17th century.
There are so many masterpieces
that it is almost impossible to be selective, but if you
really want to understand the greatness of Raphael, this is the
place
to come.
