A gift to the Uffizi Galleries

an incredible and rare work by Niccolo Betti, a pupil of Giorgio Vasari and Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, was donated by Fabrizio Moretti to the Uffizi Galleries  in memory of his father Alfredo.

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The representation of the divine figure is inspired and referenced to the Byzantine iconography of Christ in the mandorla, and the dim light behind the figure of Christ, delimited by some clouds is an explicit reference. Several common elements of the Italian tradition can be recognised in the panel, and it is possible that the artist got inspired by the painting The Resurrection realised by Giorgio Vasari and Raffaellino del Colle a Capodimonte for the figurative and compositional schemes. 

However, he reformulates the suggestions according to his unique style. Thus, the cloud on which Christ walks in Vasari and del Colle’s painting disappears in Betti’s version, and the numerous figures in the background decrease. On the left, one of the soldiers appears frightened and tries to cover himself with his shield while holding his sword tightly. On the right, his companion continues to sleep, unaware of the event that is happening. The only character who appears delighted, albeit surprised, is the man in the background on the right, representing one of the apostles.

The artist's palette used for this painting is clearer than the palette of colours that characterised his early paintings. Here, bright colours are the protagonist for a distinctive chiaroscuro.

The words pronounced by the director of the Uffizi Galleries, Eike Schmidt, express all of the gratitude towards the gesture: “The activity of antiquarians is historically one of the pillars on which the art-historical research is based, and it is also, in many notable cases, the safeguard of our heritage, which is recurrently brought back home by them. The donation by Fabrizio Moretti in memory of his father is one of the numerous generous gestures by the category towards museums, representing a significant moment for the Uffizi Galleries, which can now add a missing piece to the collection”.