THE STATUEThis statue of Paolo Mascagni is one othe the 28 that decorate the columns of the Uffizi gallery. In it Paolo Mascagni is holding something (i was unable to understand what it was) in his left hand. He he his represented in real size and using period clothing.
"With rescript grand-ducal of 11 March 1842 established the Florentine Deputation to implement in the Loggia degli Uffizi statues in honor of various famous Tuscan, chaired by John Ginori, intended to carry out the project of 28 statues of the Florentine Vincenzo Batelli typesetter, who had had to give up for lack of means. The statues, depicting personalities of politics, art, science, literature, etc.., Made in the course of several years (the first 11 in 15 years) were donated to the Community on the occasion of the feast of the patron and placed in the niches designed by Vasari for architectural purposes. To raise the necessary funds resorted to various means: the statue of Nicola Pisano (made from rings) and those of Giotto (Dupré) and Galileo (Costoli) were donated by Lorena, sometimes the States carried out of his own pocket, as in If the Statue of Amerigo Vespucci, paid by Sir Henry Danty or, famous artists such as Lorenzo Bartolini, with "generous patriotism," were content to be paid as other lesser-known artisans, "postergando any special interest." In general, however, to raise funds, the Deputation was organizing "a stake in the round ', or a horse race with jockeys, and some raffles at the Uffizi and Piazza S. Maria Novella. In June 1848, the Deputation, giving the statue by Donatello Bardi, announced that within two years he would donate the other three, 'without doubt, however, the event of the seven statues that then fail to complete the decoration of these Uffizi, because their existence is now exclusively connected making and the outcome of the public raffles. " Translated From: (
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THE PERSON"Paolo Mascagni (January 25, 1755 – October 19, 1815) was an Italian physician.
Mascagni was born in Pomarance (in the Province of Pisa) to Aurelio Mascagni and Elizabeth Rivendell, both belonging to the ancient families Chiusdino. He studied in Siena, where he had among his teachers Pietro Tabarrini (for Anatomy) and graduated in philosophy and medicine in 1778.
In addition to a preference for medical studies, Mascagni was also interested in the natural sciences, as evidenced by several studies on youth Lagoni at Siena and Volterra. In the last year of university studies, he was appointed alternate assistant to Tabarrini and then after completion of studies, assistant in 1780. In 1796, he was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
In 1798 Mascagni became President of the Fisiocritici Academy in Siena. During the French occupation of Tuscany, he embraced the giacobina republican cause and was in prison for seven months.
Despite this, on October 22, 1801 the King of Etruria appointed Mascagni as professor of anatomy at University of Pisa. This forced him to take classes twice a week in Florence, at Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova. During these years he studied mainly the lymphatic vessels and wrote as a result in 1787 the Vasorum lymphaticorum corporis humani historia et Iconographia. Maria Louisa, Duchess of Lucca then instituted him as Professor at the University of Florence.
Mascagni employed Clemente Susini to make wax models of his many discoveries of the lymphatic system, which are still held by museums in Bologna. In 1801 the Sardinian anatomist Francesco Antonio Boi came to study under Mascagni. At first Boi assumed his maternal name of Pirisi in Florence so he would not be recognized, but, his skill and knowledge of anatomy soon became apparent, and he was forced to reveal himself. He began a close collaboration with Mascagni, with whom he formed a deep friendship. Boi worked with Susini in making wax models which are now held in the Museo archeologico nazionale in Cagliari.
Mascagni died of pernicious fever during a stay at villa Castelletto in Chiusdino, (Siena), the place where Maria Louisa, Duchess of Lucca's family was originally from and where he spent much of his spare time.
Some decades after his death his statue was erected in the courtyard of the Uffizi."
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