Pity 1582

Curator: Here we have Alessandro Allori’s “Pity,” painted as a fresco in 1582. The scale is remarkable, truly commanding the space around it. Editor: My immediate impression is one of restrained grief. The color palette, with its muted tones, feels very somber. There's also an almost unsettling stillness to the composition. Curator: The use of fresco demands swift, confident execution. One can imagine Allori and his workshop rapidly applying the paint to the wet plaster, layer upon layer. Consider the cost of pigments at the time and the logistics of scaffolding required for a work like this! It was clearly a prestigious commission. Editor: Indeed. Let’s delve into the pictorial language. The central figure, an allegorical representation of Pity, holds scales, but they're unlike scales of justice, there’s an oil lamp on one end of them and an empty bowl on the other, indicating the fading light of compassion. And flanking her are these somewhat fleshy cherubs— almost baroque in their weight—burdened with fruits and vines. There's a juxtaposition between the divine and earthly. Curator: Exactly. The iconography blends classical elements, seen in the cherubs’ poses, with a distinct Counter-Reformation sensibility. The deliberate somber tones served to prompt viewers towards religious reflection, perhaps as a response to the debates swirling around the Reformation. Allori, as court painter to the Medici, walked a delicate line. Editor: You raise an interesting point. These paintings as frescoes aren't portable as compared to paintings on canvas, so who would come to this spot to view it in that period, and for what kind of function? I wonder if this Pity here served as a political message, meant to project a specific image to those allowed entry into these halls. Curator: Precisely. These frescoes served both as decoration and tools for power. Now when one thinks of such themes rendered using specific pigments by Italian mannerists working for the most powerful families in the country, that's where one can understand that the aesthetic we enjoy here carries within it more meanings. Editor: Thinking of "Pity" this way opens new doors for me as a viewer to this beautiful mural here, by making the visual details of scales and light become richer when one contextualizes it!