Eike Schmidt wants museums to highlight issues of today rather than simply glorifying artists. Schmidt, Uffizi director since 2015, believes it crucial for museums to confront the “toxic social structures” of the past rather than simply glorifying its artists.
The Uffizi gallery’s director believes it is not enough to show works by great artists. He says it is crucial for museums to highlight issues of today and confront the “toxic social structures”. Recently, the Uffizi hosted an exhibition reflecting violence perpetrated by men against women.
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The exhibition included one of the greatest sculptors of the 17th century, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. His bust of Costanza Bonarelli stood alongside contemporary portraits by Ilaria Sagaria featuring female victims of acid attacks. Bernini had Bonarelli’s face slashed over relationship with another man, his brother.
“This is a world-famous bust but hardly anyone beyond the world of specialists knows her story,” said Schmidt.
“The bust shows her in a very personal situation, her hair is undone and she’s wearing a semi-transparent robe with buttons open. So clearly Bernini made this when they were lovers. But not even a year later, he became jealous because she was with another man and so had her cheek slashed. This is exactly what happens today to so many women by jealous ex-partners.”
Bernini got off with a token fine while Costanza was banished to a monastery.
“I really wanted to make this connection between a work of art that is really naively admired and contributes to the fame of Bernini [and] the very problematic side of Bernini that was socially accepted at the time,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely our mission to tackle these social issues where we can, otherwise what is our sense?”
Accessibility of art
Schmidt is widely credited with making the Uffizi’s art more accessible to all social classes. He has improved the visitor experience, cracked down on ticket touts and celebrates female artists.
The Uffizi has the largest collection in the world of works by female painters who were active before the 19th century. However, before Schmidt took over the directorship, the works were not given much exposure. Schmidt organised a series of exhibitions dedicated to historical female artists. Amongst them was Lavinia Fontana, the first professional female painter in Italy.
“Many people don’t even know that there were women painters before the 19th century,” he said. “But their marginalisation was really a phenomenon of the 19th and 20th centuries, they were not marginalised in their own time.”
Used pandemic for improvements
Schmidt faced long closures brought on by the pandemic, which caused a significant reduction in takings. He used the time to come up with a strategy for tackling issues such as overcrowding. He also made the museum’s trove of treasures accessible to people living beyond Florence.
This year, he took some of Uffizi’s works on the road, as part of the “Uffizi diffusi”, or “Diffused Uffizi”, project.
“Even if we had the space to build another wing, or three, we still wouldn’t be able to show all the treasures we have,” he said. “So it made sense to have works displayed close to where people live. The idea was to spread tourism with the entire region of Tuscany rather than just having everyone in Florence.”
Next year, the Uffizi will lend some of its masterpieces to the Bund One Art Museum in Shanghai. The first in a series of exhibitions is one on Botticelli in spring 2022.
“We have to consider that the Chinese haven’t been able to travel to Europe for almost two years,” Schmidt said. “There is a value in sharing works from our culture with people on the other side of the globe. But before we even think about what we’re sharing we have to see what condition the works are in, and if they’re not fit to travel, they won’t travel.”