Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi Gallery is one of the world's famous museums and is located in Florence, an unforgettable city with a rich history. The country's artistic center is on the list of recommended attractions to visit when traveling to Italy. About 2 million people visit it annually.
From offices to gallery
The museum was opened at the end of the 16th century by the great ruler of Tuscany, Cosimo I, in the palace erected on his orders by the painter and architect D. Vasari. The building was originally conceived for the work of administrative and judicial institutions. This is where the name "Uffizi" comes from, which means "offices" in Italian. The Medici family valued art and supported talented artists as much as possible. In this regard, a few years later the palace turned into the Uffizi Gallery. The first exhibition was organized by the son of Duke Francesco I in 1581, consisting of paintings, frescoes, antique sculptures, constantly replenished over the years.
Architecture of the Uffizi Gallery
It has a U-shape, due to two rectangular buildings connected to each other by a through corridor with loggias. The façade is finished with white plaster and rare, highly durable blue-gray stone. This type of cladding is not found anywhere else. In general, the Uffizi Gallery does not create the impression of a bulky structure; on the contrary, it radiates lightness and grace.
Priceless masterpieces
The Uffizi Gallery includes more than 50 chronologically exhibited rooms, with a total area of 13,000 square meters. m, where changes in traditions in Italian artistic culture from the 13th to the 18th centuries can be easily traced. Its walls display historical documents, examples of icon painting, collections of miniatures and tapestries, marble and porphyry busts, as well as ancient Roman sarcophagi and statues.
The art gallery is represented by thousands of paintings from the Middle Ages and modern times, both Italian and foreign artists, but there are not so many works by the latter. A separate exhibition is the only collection in the world of 1,500 self-portraits, which also depicts Russian painters such as Kustodiev, Aivazovsky and others.
The Uffizi Gallery is a real treasure not only for art connoisseurs, but also for ordinary tourists who want to touch the work of great European masters who left a bright mark on history. The museum was closed during the pandemic but reopened after a renovation that included the addition of 14 new rooms and an additional 129 works of art.
