Luca Giordano’s 17th-Century Painting Returns to Florence with Uffizi Acquisition

A painting created in Florence more than 340 years ago by the Neapolitan Baroque artist Luca Giordano has returned to the city after being acquired for the Uffizi Galleries. The work, Christ and the Samaritan Woman, dates from around 1685 and is notable for its unusual technique and its connection to one of Giordano’s most important commissions in Florence.

The painting was presented at TEFAF Maastricht 2026, an international art and antiques fair in the Netherlands, before being purchased by the Amici degli Uffizi and Friends of the Uffizi Galleries associations and donated to the museum.

The circular work was painted in fresco on a lightweight, portable support known as a paniera, a round mat made from woven wicker. The technique, used in Florence by artists including Giovanni da San Giovanni, allowed fresco painting to be produced on a movable surface rather than directly on a wall.

Giordano adopted the method during his stay in Florence, where he worked for the Medici family and other prominent aristocratic patrons. Known for his remarkable speed, which earned him the nickname Luca fa presto (Luca works quickly), the artist is traditionally said to have completed the painting in just two days.

A connection to Palazzo Medici Riccardi

The painting was created towards the end of Giordano’s work on the monumental fresco decorations at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, one of Florence’s principal Renaissance palaces.

His fresco cycle in the palace’s Gallery of Mirrors is among the major examples of Baroque decorative painting in Florence. Its continuous arrangement of scenes, without the conventional painted architectural divisions, represented an important development in monumental interior decoration.

The newly acquired painting provides a direct connection between this period of Giordano’s career and the Uffizi’s collection.

Christ and the Samaritan Woman was originally part of a group of four circular paintings commissioned by Andrea Del Rosso, a member of a Florentine noble family. Giordano produced the works during his stay at Palazzo Del Rosso.

Another painting from the same series, Christ Among the Doctors, is now held by the Minneapolis Institute of Art in the United States.

The subject comes from the Gospel of John and depicts the encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. The composition uses bright colours and a fluid painting style associated with the Baroque tradition, particularly the influence of Pietro da Cortona.

A new addition to the Uffizi’s Baroque collection

The acquisition expands the Uffizi’s holdings of 17th-century Neapolitan painting and helps document the influence of artists from Naples on Florence’s artistic development.

The museum already owns a self-portrait by Giordano, as well as a preparatory study for his frescoes in the Corsini Chapel at the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. The latter was acquired at the Florence International Antiques Biennale in 2015.

Uffizi director Simone Verde said the newly donated painting was particularly significant because it was produced during the final stages of Giordano’s decorative project at Palazzo Medici Riccardi. Its addition to the collection will allow the museum to present a more complete account of the artist’s contribution to Baroque painting in Florence.

Luigi Salvadori, president of Amici degli Uffizi, highlighted the longstanding collaboration between the Italian association and Friends of the Uffizi Galleries, which has supported acquisitions and restoration projects for two decades.

The painting is intended for display in the Uffizi’s first-floor galleries dedicated to 17th-century painting, which are due to open to the public. The new rooms will place Giordano’s work alongside paintings by other artists active in Florence during the same period, illustrating the connections between local artistic traditions and the wider European Baroque movement.

(Photos from The Uffizi Galleries Press Office)

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