The exhibition is a tribute to the Medici collections of clocks, which constitute one of the largest collections of this kind in existence today, and their home, the Pitti Palace, whose sumptuous decorations frequently reflect the theme of the passing of time.

The exhibition stems from the desire to draw the public's attention for the first time to the substantial collection of clocks and watches preserved in the prestigious rooms of the Pitti Palace. Through a significant selection according to form and intended use, these art objects are set against a striking backdrop of furnishings, paintings and clothes of the period, thus allowing us to imagine how these accessories must have looked in their original context.

Studied chiefly as part of the Palace's immense wealth of furnishings and works of art, the clocks, silent witnesses of the flow of events, were crucial in regulating the rhythms of life at court and symbols of prestige for their owners. This study has also made it possible to appreciate the extraordinary quality of the clocks in their various forms, both from a technical-scientific and historical-artistic point of view. From this perspective, this instrument, already highly symbolic due to its function, becomes the union of two apparently opposite poles, science and art: on the one hand, the clock itself, made up of increasingly sophisticated and complex mechanisms, and on the other, the watch case which, initially created to protect its delicate internal components, has been transformed into an actual work of art with its own distinctive value.

Indeed, the art of watchmaking fascinated the noble inhabitants of the Palace, who employed the best masters working in Italy and elsewhere, inviting them to their court to create important pendulums.

As a functional object, but at the same time a precious ornament, the clock is an accessory that mutates over the centuries, especially with the social change taking place at the end of the 19th century, and reaches its final metamorphosis with the wristwatch, so fundamental to the new, frenetic rhythms of modern age life.

 

The exhibition, curated, like the catalogue published by Sillabe, by Enrico Colle and Simonella Condemi, is promoted by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism with the Uffizi Galleries and Firenze Musei.

Orologio solare dittico, Hans Troschel (attivo a Norimberga, 1614-1634), fra 1614 e 1634, avorio, vetro, metallo; cm 9 × 5,5 × 9,5 (aperto), Firenze, Museo Galileo – Istituto e Museo di Storia della ScienzaOrologio notturno ad anfora biansata, Parigi, 1810-1820 circa, bronzo dorato e dipinto; cm 54 × 40, base cm 16 × 16, Firenze, Museo StibbertOrologio da tasca, cassa: manifattura italiana, meccanismo: Francesco Papillon (notizie primo quarto XVIII secolo), 1700-1724, bronzo dorato; diam. cm 6, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Tesoro dei Granduchi Orologio da tasca, cassa: manifattura italiana, meccanismo: Francesco Papillon (notizie primo quarto XVIII secolo), 1700-1724, bronzo dorato; diam. cm 6, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Tesoro dei Granduchi Orologio da mensola, cassa: manifattura inglese, meccanismo: Jgnatius Huggeford (doc. 1686-1756), 1700 circa, ebano, ottone dorato e argento; cm 35 × 28 × 17, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria d’arte moderna di Palazzo PittiTiberio Titi (Firenze 1573-1627), Ritratto di Cosimo II de’ Medici, 1604 circa, olio su tela, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria degli UffiziOrologio da mensola, cassa: manifattura francese, meccanismo: Pierre Du Chesne (1650-1730 circa), 1675-1690 circa, legno d’ebano impiallacciato e intarsiato con tartaruga e ottone dorato, rame cesellato dorato, velluto di seta; cm 66 × 40 × 21, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Reali, Toilette del ReOrologio da mensola, cassa: manifattura francese, meccanica: Francia, 1810 circa, bronzo cesellato e dorato; cm 58 × 67 × 21, teca cm 82 × 74 × 31, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Reali, Sala di ErcoleOrologio da mensola, cassa e meccanismo: Louis Courvoisier & Comp.e, 1811-1814, bronzo dorato e smalti policromi, base in legno impiallacciato e bronzo dorato; cm 57 × 42 × 23, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria d’arte moderna di Palazzo Pitti Orologio da mensola, cassa: manifattura francese, meccanismo: Meuron & Comp.e, 1790-1800 circa, marmo bianco, ottone dorato, bronzo cesellato dorato (orologio); radica d’ulivo impiallacciato, stagno, ottone, bronzo cesellato, sbalzato e dorato (cassa e organo); cm 73 × 50 × 16 (orologio); cm 51 × 63 × 37 (cassa), Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Reali, Sala della CaritàOrologio da mensola, cassa: manifattura francese, meccanismo: Jean François Béeckaert (1720-1783 circa), XVIII secolo, bronzo dorato, ottone, acciaio; cm 46,5 × 31 × 21, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Museo della Moda e del Costume Orologio da mensola, cassa: manifattura francese, meccanismo: Jean François Béeckaert (1720-1783 circa), XVIII secolo, bronzo dorato, ottone, acciaio; cm 46,5 × 31 × 21, Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Museo della Moda e del Costume
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Real time and reality time: the clocks of the Pitti Palace from the 17th to the 19th century

Gallery of Modern Art, Pitti Palace, Florence

13 September 2016 - 8 January 2017 – extended to 5 March 2017

The exhibition is curated by Enrico Colle, Simonella Condemi

Exhibition catalogue published by Sillabe (available only in Italian)

Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Gallerie degli Uffizi