Italy 2016
The Uffizi Gallery

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Florence - Around the City

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The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici
so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name uffizi -
"offices".  The Uffizi brought together under one roof the administrative offices, the
Tribunal, and the Archivio di Stato - the state archive. A project commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici,
Grand Duke of Tuscany, planned to display prime art works of the Medici collections in
the building; the plan was carried out by his son, Grand Duke Francesco I. He commissioned
 the architect Buontalenti to design the Tribuna degli Uffizi to house a series
of masterpieces in one room, and was a highly influential attraction of the Grand Tour.

Over the years, more sections of the palace were recruited to exhibit paintings and sculpture
 collected or commissioned by the Medici. According to Vasari, who was not only the architect
of the Uffizi but also the author of Lives of the Artists, published in 1550 and 1568, artists such
as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo gathered at the Uffizi "for beauty, for work and for recreation."

After the house of Medici ended, the art treasures remained in Florence by terms of
the famous Patto di famiglia negotiated by Anna Maria Luisa, the last Medici heiress, forming one of
first modern museums.  The gallery was open to visitors in the 16th century, and opened to the public in 1765.

The entrance foyer of the Uffiizi Gallery, just after passing the bag scanning station.  All museums now have airport-type security to prevent vandalism and terrorism.

Entering the Eastern Corridor on the second floor.

The Eastern Corridor is so long it almost vanishes in the distance.  There are incredible ceiling paintings between the beams in the ceiling. The exhibit halls open into this corridor.

Every ceiling panel is different, and beautiful.

Statuary in Eastern Corridor

Portrait of Ferdinando I de' Medici.

Duccio was the most important representative of the Sienese school of painting that focused on the importance of color and decoration over drawing. His Maestà, also called the Madonna Rucellai, was painted in 1285.

Cimabue is considered the last Italian artist to be influenced by Byzantine art. In his tempera on wood known as Maestà of Santa Trinita, painted between 1280 and 1290, you can witness that something is changing. The throne with its wide base where the four prophets and a mighty Madonna rests her leg on the upper step foreshadows the spatial experimentation his apprentice, Giotto, would become famous for.

Giotto is the true originator of modern painting, paving the way for the Renaissance. His Maestà, known as the Madonna di Ognissanti, painted around 1310, is completely different from Duccio’s or Cimabue’s. The Virgin sits on a throne that gives space a shape and creates a “perspective box” where figures are physical, and finally, humanized. Here, the subjects can be thought of as being real human beings, with both a real body and soul, living in a real space, this world.

On the left, two Saints From The Quaratesi Polyptych: St. Mary Magdalen And St. Nicholas, by Gentile da Fabriano.

Adoration of the Magi, Fabriano.

This Madonna with Child and two angels painted by Filippo Lippi around 1465 is not only a devotional painting; the delicacy and sweetness of Virgin Mary show a new way to depict a religious subject, more and more close to real human beauty.

The Santa Lucia dei Magnoli Altarpiece, Domenico Veneziano.

The Battle of San Romano, Paolo Uccello.  The panel depicts the unhorsing of Bernardino della Ciarda, leader of Sienese mercenaries.

Antonio del Pollaiolo - Altarpiece of Saints Vincent, James, and Eustace.

The diptych of the Dukes of Urbino is one of the most famous works of art of the Italian Renaissance. Painted by Piero della Francesca, it depicts the duke Federigo da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza.

Madonna and Child with Six Saints (Sant'Ambrogio Altarpiece), Sandro Botticelli.

The Cestello Annunciation, Sandro Botticelli.

Primavera - Allegory of Spring -  Sandro Botticelli.

Madonna Enthroned with Saints, San Barnaba Altarpiece, Sandro Botticelli.

Madonna of the Pomegranate, Sandro Botticelli.

The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli.

Sandro Botticelli, 'Pallas and the Centaur'.

Madonna of the Magnificat, Sandro Botticelli.

The Three Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael with Tobias, Francesco Boticinni.

Coronation of the Virgin.

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, Archeangels Michael and Raphael, St. Gusto and St. Zenobius - Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Hugo van der Goes - Christ Child Adored by Angels (in the center), Portinari triptych.

Adoration of the Magi, Sandro Botticelli.

View of the Piazalle degli Uffizi from the second corridor.

Madonna with Saint John the Baptist and Job.

The Madonna with Saint John, by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Doni Tondo, Michaelangelo. Commissioned by the merchant Agnolo Doni (either for his wedding to Maddalena Strozzi or for the birth of their first child), it is the only certain painting by Michelangelo.

Arianna Addormentata (Sleeping Ariadne), 3rd century Roman copy of a Hellenistic original.

It is believed that Michelangelo admired this work of Roman art, a copy of a Greek Hellenistic sculpture, which was discovered in Rome during his lifetime.

View of the Palazzo Vecchio from the Uffizi terrace viewpoint.

Madonna and Child with Saints - Rosso Fiorentino

Madonna and Child with the Young Saint John, Jacopo Carrucci.

The Panciatichi Holy Family, Bronzino Tori.

Madonna of the Goldfinch, Rafael.

The Veiled Woman, Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio.

Carita, Francesco Salviati.

Madonna With Long Neck, also known as Madonna and Child with Angels and St. Jerome, Parmigianino.

Death of Adonis, 1512, by Sebastiano del Piombo.

Madonna with Child and Saints, Da Vinci.

The Baptism of Christ, Andrea del Verrocchio, and his pupil Leonardo da Vinci.

The Annunciation, Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Medici Vase is a monumental marble bell-shaped krater sculpted in Athens in the second half of the 1st century AD as a garden ornament for the Roman market.

The Wedding Supper, Gerrit Van Honthorst.

Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst - Supper Party.

Gerard (Gerrit) van Honthorst, Adoration of the Child.

The octagonal room called Tribuna (Tribune) was commissioned by Francesco I, son of Cosimo I de' Medici and completed around 1584 by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti.

Back to Italy 2016 Index

Galleria dell'Accademia

Florence - Around the City

Il Duomo