Palazzo de'Rossi. Una storia pistoiese

24. Amadeo Laini da Pistoia, Madonna in trono fra i santi
Simone e Taddeo
23. Maestro della Cappella Bracciolini, Madonna col bambino
first room we find, for example, what is called the “lunettone”, an impressive local work depicting
the Madonna and Child surrounded by the two saints Bartholomew and James (fig. 23): the
fresco, attributable almost certainly to the master of the Bracciolini Chapel, comes from the
entrance of the old twelfth century hospital of “San Bartolomeo dell’Alpi”, also known as Pratum
Episcopi 48 . We have the Madonna con angeli musicanti by Bartolomeo di Andrea Bocchi (fig.
26), a local fourteenth century painter, active in Prato, Pistoia and Lucca 49 ; the Incoronazione della
Vergine by Lorenzo di Niccolò Gerini, with its finely crafted cusped gold leaf background which
takes us back to the 14 th century 50 . The most valuable piece is perhaps the Vergine col bambino (fig.
25), un a marble bas-relief by Domenico Rosselli, fascinating for its freshness, sharpness and
elegance. The sculptor, from the Florentine school but born in Pistoia, was one of the leading
artists of the Renaissance. Also attributed to his hand is the portrait of Battista Sforza, wife of
Duke Federico da Montefeltro 51 .
The second room offers some strong pieces from the collection, starting with the magnificent Madonna
in trono by Amadeo Laini (fig. 24), still in its original tabernacle with the coat-of-arms of the
Gatteschi family, which for centuries kept it in Montegattoli villa, just before Vinacciano 52 . It is
almost unique, given that you would have to travel to New Jersey, to the Museum of Rutgers University
to view another work by this artist 53 . Also of note is the Annunciazione by Fra’ Paolino, a classic
example of Renaissance composure by one of the local protagonists in that flourishing period.
Another lunette, this time much smaller but no less interesting, is displayed opposite the Amadeo,
and is the work of another very poorly documented local painter from the 16th century: Giuliano
Panciatichi. The explicitly allegorical representation, with the presence of the hourglass and death
with the sickle next to a crucified Christ, is underlined by the quote from Ecclesiasticus, which is a
variation on the classic Memento mori 54 . Also in this case, like with Amadeo and others, we have before
us a work that stands as a strong point of the collection in terms of local art history, precisely for
the fact that all that remains of the work by Giuliano is the Immacolata Concezione in the church of
SS Annunziata, as well as the Madonna e Santi kept in Palazzo dei Vescovi, which Alessandro Nesi at-
duttore delle scelte, che si richiama al territorio di riferimento e all’evoluzione temporale
documentata. Il criterio adottato è stato dunque quello di utilizzare le cinque sale disponibili
e il lungo corridoio per costruire un percorso organizzato cronologicamente. In tale modo
diventa possibile offrire un ampio spaccato della raccolta, ma si offre al contempo la possibilità
di trasformare la visita in un viaggio all’interno degli ultimi sette secoli della produzione
artistica del nostro territorio. Un viaggio, ovviamente, per campionatura, senza pretese di
esaustività; ma anche senza vuoti particolarmente clamorosi, potendo contare su spazi importanti
e su una cospicua possibilità di scelta 40 .
La ripartizione in quattro sezioni è abbastanza squilibrata, e ciò deriva dal fatto che la parte
di gran lunga prevalente della raccolta è quella dedicata al secolo scorso. Si è già fatto cenno
delle ovvie motivazioni, che vanno assai al di là del convincimento di un Novecento pistoiese
di grandissimo rilievo: le opere vicine a noi sono più facilmente reperibili e costano generalmente
molto meno rispetto ai prodotti artistici del passato meno recente. Per questo motivo
la prima sezione raggruppa opere dal Trecento al Cinquecento; la seconda quelle che vanno
dal Seicento all’Ottocento; la terza è dedicata al primo Novecento; l’ultima al secondo Novecento
41 . Fin troppo evidente la sproporzione tutta a vantaggio del secolo più recente.
La sezione iniziale è collocata nelle prime due sale, le più piccole 42 ; le opere più antiche sono
trecentesche, non si conserva niente del periodo precedente. Del resto l’arte del Duecento
a Pistoia è legata al Crocefisso di Coppo di Marcovaldo e Salerno di Coppo, conservato in
Duomo e recentemente restaurato da Alfio Del Serra proprio su iniziativa della Fondazione.
La produzione del periodo, inoltre, è opera prevalentemente lapidea: non è un caso che il
secolo si chiuda con la realizzazione più significativa, quella del pulpito di Sant’Andrea.
Si tratta senza dubbio della sezione più debole: il territorio conserva ben altro rispetto a
quanto si può trovare in queste due sale. Il notevolissimo patrimonio del Museo Civico, il
Museo Diocesano, le chiese, gli oratori e i complessi conventuali nel loro insieme documentano
in maniera assai più articolata quel lungo e fervido periodo 43 . Tuttavia non mancano motributes
to Panciatichi for its clear stylistic consistencies. Before the lunette is the precious Madonna
del latte, a fourteenth century cusped wooden panel by the aforementioned Niccolò di Tommaso.
In the third room 55 , that is, the section that includes works dating to between the seventeenth and
the nineteenth century, a certain weakness could likewise be found, particularly for the lack and
poor significance of seventeenth century works, represented here only by the rather uninspiring
canvas by the Pescia-born painter Lazzaro Baldi, author of San Francesco di Sales che predica. But this
claim would in fact be undeserved, since in reality the section can count on the important collection
in the Gimignani Room of the adjoining Palazzo Sozzifanti. The room, mainly destined for
Foundation board meetings, contains a sizeable and important group of works by Giacinto Gimignani,
purchased over the years and becoming a specific section of the collection in its own right.
The Pistoia painter, also thanks to the patronage of the Rospigliosi family (particularly Giulio, who
became pope in 1667 under the name Clement IX), was highly successful both in Rome as well as
in Florence, besides his own native city, receiving commissions from the most important families
of the time, and from public and religious institutions. Still today, Pistoia is home to a considerable
collection of his vast oeuvre, distributed here and there 56 . The room that has taken his name brings
together ten works of different sizes as well as the preparatory drawing for one of the canvases 57 .
Returning to the room, however, it can be described in part as a proper tribute to the highly
skilled painters who between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries focused part of their
artistic efforts on the walls or the ceiling of the palazzo. Three of these, Teodoro Matteini,
Giuseppe Bezzuoli and Bartolomeo Valiani, are now represented also in the exhibition rooms
of the building in which they once worked, about two centuries ago, to masterfully decorate
the noble residence. Matteini is there with a unique and truly beautiful work, a portrait of
Pius VII which is a copy of another piece by Jacques-Louis David kept in the Louvre (fig. 29):
unique because the painter (who was no stranger to copying) had independently portrayed
the pope on at least four other occasions 58 ; it is particularly beautiful for the great facial expression,
veiled by a clear melancholy which is completely absent in the original work.
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