Abstract

The article sheds light on the unknown presence of artists such as Vincenzo Cabianca, Giovanni Fattori, Telemaco Signorini, Odoardo Borrani and Stanislao Pointeau as copyists in the Reale Galleria degli Uffizi during the 1850s, i.e. in the same years as those painters founded the Macchiaioli group at the Caffè Michelangiolo in Florence. The article is the result of investigations carried out in the Archivio Storico delle Gallerie Fiorentine (Gallerie degli Uffizi) which holds, among others, the permits to copy the works in the Galleria by artists of different origins and culture. The copy permits signed by the founding artists of the Macchiaioli group are transcribed as appendix at the end of the article.