Galleria degli Uffizi

The Uffizi Gallery, the oldest art museum in Italy, is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence.

Galleria degli Uffizi Timeline

1560 to 1574 - Building of the palace was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici as the offices for the Florentine magistrates - hence the name uffizi "offices". The cortile is so long and narrow, and open to the Arno River at its far end through a Doric screen that articulates the space without blocking it, that architectural historians treat it as the first regularised streetscape of Europe. Vasari, a painter as well as architect, emphasised the perspective length by the matching facades' continuous roof cornices, and unbroken cornices between storeys and the three continuous steps on which the palace-fronts stand. The Palazzo degli Uffizi brought together under one roof the administrative offices, the Tribunal and the state archive Archivio di Stato.
1574 to 1581 - Construction continued to Vasari's design by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti. The intention to place notable works of art of the Medici collection on the piano nobile was effected by Francesco I, who commissioned from Buontalenti the famous Tribuna degli Uffizi. The collection of outstanding masterpieces in one ensemble became a star attraction of the Grand Tour of Europe. Over the years, further parts of the palace evolved into a display place for many of the paintings and sculpture collected by the Medici family or commissioned by them.
31 October 1737 - Anna Maria Lodovica, the last Medici heiress, signed the famous Patto di famiglia. In collaboration with the Holy Roman Emperor and Grand Duke Francis of Lorraine, she willed the personal property of the Medici to the Tuscan state, provided that nothing was ever removed from Florence.
1765 - The gallery was officially opened to the public.
29 November 1913 - A Leonard Vincenzo (actually Vincenzo Peruggia) contacted arts dealer Alfredo Geri to see if he was interested in purchasing the Mona Lisa. Geri agreed to a meeting accompanied by the director of the Uffizi, only to discover he actually did have the stolen painting. Whilst the investigation, arrest and paperwork was being sorted, the painting was temporarily hung at the Uffizi. Vincenzo claimed he stole it from the Louvre in Paris, because he wanted it returned to its rightful place in Florence.
4 November 1966 - Flood waters from the Arno River began rising at an alarming rate. Within hours, the city of Florence was virtually underwater and contents of The Ufizzi Gallery was under threat of being destroyed.
1976 - Marc Chagall travelled to Italy to donate a self portrait to the gallery.
27 May 1993 - Mafia car bomb at the gallery.

The Collection

The museum has a statue of Machiavelli, political philosopher and author of the "History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy".

The upper floor of the Galleria degli Uffizi has many famous works from the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance; High Renaissance in Italy; and European Baroque Age:

Room 1 - Sala Archeologica
Room 2 - Sala del Duecento e di Giotto

The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Eight Angels and Four Prophets painted by Cimabue for the church of S. Trinita around 1285 to 1300 is a monumental variant of the theme of the Mount Sinai icon of around 700 years before.

Room 3 - Sala del Trecento Senese
Room 4 - Sala del Trecento Fiorentino

Gentile da Fabriano - L’Adorazione dei Magi.

Room 7 - Sala del Primo Rinascimento

Paolo Uccello - La Battaglia di San Romano.

Room 8 - The Filippo Lippi Room

Madonna and Child with Two Angels

Room 10-14 - The Botticelli Room

Rogier van der Weyden - Entombment
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Saint Augustine in his Study
Filippino Lippi - Portrait of an Old Man
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Portrait of a Young Man with a Medal
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Calumny
Filippino Lippi - Adorazione dei Magi Adoration of the Magi includes a representation of the Star of Bethlehem. In 1529 it was acquired by Cardinal Carlo de' Medici and in 1666 it became part of the collection.
Filippino Lippi - Pala degli Otto
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Madonna of the Pomegranate
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Annunciation
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Magnificat Madonna
Domenico Bigordi called Ghirlandaio - Adoration of the Magi
Filippino Lippi - Self-portrait (?)
Lorenzo di Credi - Venus
Hugo van der Goes - Portinari Triptych
Filippino Lippi - Adoration of the Child
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Madonna and Child
Filippino Lippi - Allegory
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Spring
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - San Barnaba Altarpiece
Domenico Bigordi called Ghirlandaio - Stories from the Lives of Saints and Man of Sorrows
Domenico Bigordi called Ghirlandaio - Madonna and Child with Predella with Pietà and Saints.
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Stories from the Lives of Saints and Man of Sorrows
Lorenzo di Credi - Adoration of the Shepherds
Filippino Lippi - Saint Gerome
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Birth of Venus
Domenico Bigordi called Ghirlandaio - Madonna Enthroned with Saints
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - "Adoration of the Magi" commissioned by Guasparre di Zanobi del Lama, who was a social upstart in Florence. In order to achieve recognition, he paid for a lavish chapel to be built in Santa Maria Novella, and he decorated it with Botticelli's altar painting. The most important members of the Medici family are represented in the painting: the oldest king, kneeling in front of Mary and Christ is Cosimo the Elder.
Sandro Filipepi called Botticelli - Pallas and the Centaur

Room 33 - The Cinquecento Corridor

François Clouet - François I, King of France
Jacopo Zucchi - L'età dell'oro. The subject is from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Justice and Peace govern in the Golden Age.
Jacopo Zucchi - L'età dell’argento. The Age of Silver has four seasons and food is gathered at harvest time.
Jacopo Zucchi - L’Età del ferro. The Age of Iron has wars.

Room 41 - The Rubens Room

Jan van den Hoecke - Triumphal Entrance of Cardinal Prince Ferdinand of Spain into Antwerp.
Peter Paul Rubens - Triumphal Entrance of Henri IV into Paris.