The Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy: Room 9 (The Antonio Pollaiolo Room) - Description

Dedicated to the Pollaiolo brothers. On entering to the right, Three Virtues by Piero del Pollaiolo: on the back of the first one observe the vigorous sketch of Charity, by his brother Antonio, a great gold smith and sculptor of the second half of the 15th century. By Antonio are the other Virtues on the next wall, beside the Fortitude by Botticelli, executed for the stalls of the Merchant's Tribunal. Comparing these works permits us to observe how these two artists, with their common vibrating lines, arrived at different results.

Some particularly precious works can be admired in the showcase between the windows. Biblical subjects by Botticelli, Judith with her Handmaid carrying the head of Holofernes, and Holofernes Slain in his Tent; by Antonio del Pollaiolo, Hercules and the Hidra and Hercules and Antaeus, small replicas by the artist himself, of the large canvases painted for the Medici Palace. Also by Antonio, the Portrait of a Gentlewoman and the portrait of Galeazzo Maria Sforza which came from the room of Lorenzo the Magnificent. On the left, The Saints Vincent, James and Eustace, an altar-piece from the Basilica of San Miniato, by the brothers Piero and Antonio, principally by Antonio who was the elder.