Hans Memling: One Painting, One Show in Sala della Niobe

A small yet valuable exhibition based on the Portrait of a Young Man by Hans Memling, a fifteenth-century Flemish artist, will be on show until 10 October 2010 in the wonderful Sala della Niobe of the Uffizi Gallery, thanks to the good relations between the director of the Florentine museum, Antonio Natali, and his colleague who supervises Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, Guillermo Solana. The work of the Flemish artist – dating back to 1480-90 – has reached Florence, bearing a young praying figure on the recto, whereas on the verso there’s an unexpected still life with a majolica jug, a rug and flowers (iris, lilies and columbine), which conceal important secrets. The painting, temporarily placed next to the already large number of portraits (six) of the Uffizi’s heritage, truly represents an added value for all art lovers. At the same time, the Florentine gallery granted the loan of Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Adoration of the Magi to the Spanish museum for a prestigious exhibition set up around the Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni. This exchange is mutually beneficial for both museums. The Uffizi is therefore able to exhibit a work that is made doubly harrowing due to the devout posture of the man depicted by Memling, his elegant Italian-style clothing and also the foliage in the background, as well as due to the unspeakable beauty of the jug with the monogram of Christ, full of flowers and placed on an Oriental rug. This is a highly poetical work of all-involving symbolism, very rare in the fifteenth century. It is thought to be the left part of a triptych depicting a Madonna and Child. To the right there should have been a young woman. Portraits were Hans Memling’s
specialities and they were much admired by the many Italians residing in Bruges, in the Netherlands, who were very active in the economic field in the Medici Bank. It should be remembered that there were very close ties between Florentines and the Flemish at the time, just as Memling’s influence was strong on fifteenth and sixteenthcentury Florentine portraiture.

Galleria degli Uffizi,
Sala della Niobe
Until 10 October 2010

(Portions of this article first appeared in "Toscana & Chianti News")
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