he placed ancient sculptures of medicean collection: shortly afterwards in
this side of the building Buontalenti started to erect the Tribune.
Francesco's successors increased more and more the medicean collection with
new acquisitions of paintings, sculptures, precious and rare object in
general; they were set not only at the Uffizi but also at Pitti Palace or
in other medicean palaces. The continuing growth of the granducal
collections in 17th century enriched the Uffizi: new rooms of the second
floor were arranged to display masterworks as in a museum and in the
meanwhile the Gallery could be visited on request by Florentine or foreign
persons. For this the Uffizi can be considered the first kind of modern
museum of the history. In 1737, with the death of Gian Gastone (born in
1671) the Medici dynasty ended and the family of Lorraine ascended the
throne of Tuscany. The last descendant of Medici family, the Palatine
Electrix Anna Maria Luisa, sister of Gian Gastone, made an important
agreement that secured for ever the city of Florence all the medicean art
treasures. It was so eliminated any risk of dispersion of this artistic
patrimony unique in the world. The Lorraine family, from Pietro Leopoldo to
Leopoldo II, enriched the whole collection, increasing it with important
masterpieces: many paintings and several hundred of drawings were bought,
many Florentine pictures were transferred to the Uffizi from Tuscan
monastries, after suppression of religious orders during the 19th century.
In 1860 at the formation of the Kingdom of Italy the Medici-Lorraine
collections became public property to all effects and purposes. At the end
of the 19th century a new arrangement of the Gallery caused the destruction
of the wonderful Medici Theatre, to make way to the first rooms of the east
corridor, before the Tribune
. In 1989 the State Archive that occupied the first floor of the Uffizi,
has been transferred in the new seat of Piazza Beccaria: the first floor
will be indeed arranged to double the Gallery's area, as planned in the
Nuovi Uffizi project. The first six rooms of this floor have beeen recently
restored; all the other rooms soon will be added to them, to make way to
the exhibition of many masterworks now conserved in the warehouses and
realize new arrangements for all needs of a museum of such importance.
The Museum of The Romanian Peasant
The Museum of The Romanian Peasant is part of the large family of European
Museums for Folk Arts and Traditions. It is a National Museum, functionning
under patronage of the Ministry of Culture. Owner of an impressive
collection of objects, even if otherwise poor - as far as the financial
means necessary to capitalize this collection are minimum -, placed in a
historical monument building, (new Romanian style), whose restauration
costs exceed by far the budget allocated by the Ministry of Culture, The
Museum of The Romanian Peasant in spite of all these, has managed to put in
practice a special type of muzeology. The original poetics developped in
relation to the object was certain one of the reason why the Museum was
awarded the EMYA - European Museum of the Year Award. One of the other
reasons, of equal importance, was the very assuming of the poverty; the
personalized style of display in the halls has a certain number of
extensions which sometime happen to go beyond the door of the Museum: that
is, not only openings, concerts and conferences, but also publications and
unconventional ideas, like the Missionary Museum or the Village School, for
instance.
The Hunt Museum
The Hunt Collection is an internationally important collection of original
works of art and antiquities. It is a personal one, formed by a couple who
judged each piece that they collected according to the standard of its
design, craftsmanship and artistic merit. These criteria they applied to
objects of all ages - from the Neolithic to the twentieth century.
One of the strengths of the Hunt Collection is its medieval material. Its
range covers objects commissioned and used by both ecclesiastical and lay
patrons, and includes statues in stone, bronze and wood, crucifixes, panel
paintings, metalwork, jewellery, enamels, ceramics and crystal. The
importance of the collection is such that some items are currently on loan
to the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, while
others have been shown in international exhibitions.
The links between the Hunt collection and other museums can be illustrated
by the fact that one fragment of the Beaufort, late 14th century armorial
tapestry, is on display in the Hunt Museum in Limerick, while other
fragments of the same tapestry are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York; the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the
Burrell Collection, Glasgow.
Besides the medieval, there is a wealth of other material ranging from
Egyptian, Greek and Roman items through to the 19th century metalwork and
ceramics. There is also an important collection of Irish archaeological
material ranging from Neolithic flints, through Bronze Age gold, the unique
8th century Antrim Cross, hand pins, pennanular brooches, down to penal
crucifixes of the 18th and 19th century. Irish decorative arts are
represented too in a range of items including Irish delft, Belleek
porcelain, 18th century Dublin tapestries as well as ecclesiastical and
domestic silver.
The Museum Jean Tinguely
Dedicated to the life and work of Swiss artist Jean Tinquely, who died in
1991, the Museum is located in Solitude Park, on the right bank of the
Rhine. The Museum was erected as a gift to the city and region of Basel by
F. Hoffmann-La Roche LTD to mark the company's 100th anniversary in 1996.
It was designed and built by Swiss architect Mario Botta and has been open
to the public since 3 Ocober 1996.
The Museum's collection consists mainly of works generously donated by the
artist's widow, Niki de Saint Phalle, and works from the holdings of F.
Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.
The Museum exhibits works spanning three and a half decades in the artist's
life. Viewed in their broader context, they mirror artistic developments in
the second half of this century.
On the gallery level the Museum offers a chronological presentation of
works from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. The contrasts between the various
rooms-like those in the artist's life-are striking.
In the 1950s Tinquely's works, often executed in black-and-white, possessed
a stark, spare quality and were characterized by tremendous clarity. In
1959 his mйta-matic drawing machines appeared, marking an important
renewal.
1960 was the year of Tinquely's huge international success with his self-
destructing Homage to New York. But the artist's style was changing
rapidly. He now began working with arc-welded scrap iron, and his
sculptures became more provocative and comical.
Following the completion of Eureka for the Expo 64 in Lausanne, his works
became more 'sculpture-like' in the classical sense of the word. Works from
this period are often all black and are apt to strike the viewer as
abstract objects rather than as 'found' ones.
The 1980s were characterized by large-scale projects, among others the
large altars. The altar-piece Lola, characteristic of this period, can be
seen in the Museum.
The next two rooms contain the monumental work Mengele - Dance of Death, a
reflection on the inevitability of death.
In the large hall, monumental sculptures such as Grosse Mйta Maxi-Maxi
Utopia, Fatamorgana and Agricultural Platform are displayed.
The National Palace Museum
In Taipei is the National Palace Museum, in which is preserved and enormous
amount of art and artifact from all of China's 6,000-year history. The
National Palace Museum collection was originally the Imperial collection
until Chiang liberated it. It was then moved several times until finally
the Communists started causing trouble; then the whole thing was shipped to
Taiwan. This is probably a good thing, since otherwise it would have been
destroyed in the cultural revolution.
The Semitic Museum
The Semitic Museum was founded in 1898, and moved into its present location
in 1903. It originally was the home of the Department of Near Eastern
Languages and Civilizations, a departmental library, a repository for
research collections, a public educational institute, and a center for
archaeological exploration. Among the Museum's early achievements are the
first scientific excavations in the Holy Land (at Samaria in 1907-1912) and
important excavations at Nuzi and the Sinai, where the earliest alphabet
was found. During World War II, the Museum was taken over by the Navy and
closed to the public.
In the 1970s, it resumed its academic activities, and today is again home
to the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and to the
University's collections of Near Eastern archaeological artifacts. These
artifacts comprise over 40,000 items, including pottery, cylinder seals,
sculpture, coins and cuneiform tablets. Most are from museum-sponsored
excavations in Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Cyprus, and Tunisia. The Museum
is dedicated to the use of these collections for teaching, research and
publication of Near Eastern archaeology, history, and culture.
Tareq Rajab Museum
The Museum was built up and run privately by the Rajab family. It was
opened to the general public in 1980. The Museum is divided into two main
sections of Islamic Art:
SECTION A
This Section deals with calligraphy, pottery, metalwork, glass, wood,
ivory and jade carvings of the Islamic world. Early calligraphy is
