Muses, Medicis and Music in Marble: A Peek Inside Mia's Historic Exhibit

Minnesota Orchestra violinist Aaron Janse is known among his colleagues as somewhat of a resident music historian–he can trace the lineage of an instrument and walk you through the great violin makers of the Italian Renaissance any day of the week. When offered the chance to perform among the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s (Mia) special exhibition, Botticelli and Renaissance Florence: Masterworks from the Uffizi, he jumped at the chance. In this special collaboration between the Orchestra and Mia, Janse visits with curator Rachel McGarry as they explore the exhibit, which features 46 works from Florence’s famed Uffizi Gallery–many of which have never been shown in the United States before–alongside works from Mia’s permanent collection.  

Botticelli and Renaissance Florence is open through January 8, 2023. See these incredible works before they travel back to Italy.  

Works featured: Sandro Botticelli's Pallas and the Centaur (~1482) and Adoration of the Magi (~1475) from the Uffizi collection. And, from Mia’s collection, Filippino Lippi’s Two Muses (1500-1505) and Torso of a Dancing Faun, a Graeco-Roman marble from the 1st century CE.