View of the Stanza della Stufa

In 1637, on his way from Rome to Bologna, Pietro da Cortona sojourned for some time in Florence to paint the decorations in the Sala della Stufa (Room of Stove) in the Palazzo Pitti on behest of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. The four walls of the room , which took its name from the heating pipes it once housed for the nearby bedrooms, are painted with scenes of the Four Ages, a subject taken from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The ensemble, planned as a whole but executed during two separate working phases in 1637 and 1641, represents one of the artist’s true masterpieces. The ceiling and lunette frescoes belong to a previous campaign by different artists.