There is no doubt that if you only do one thing in Florence that it should be to visit the Uffizi. It is magnificent, breathtaking, and also huge. It would be impossible to see it all in even several days, so you’ll have to come up with a plan. For us that means making sure we see the important and famous works and then whatever catches our eye after that. But we’re not the sort that stop at every piece of art and read the tag. You’d never have the time.
As mentioned in another post, this is the Palazzo Vecchio, but it is adjoined with the Uffizi so for all practical purposes people look at this building and call it the Uffizi. In reality it’s a little more mundane – the exterior looks like this.
It sort of gets lost in the setting on the narrow streets of Florence. The entrance is very unassuming, leaving no clue about the treasures to come.
The Uffizi is one of the world’s first modern museums. The gallery has been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, and in 1765 it was officially opened to the public, formally becoming a museum in 1865.
Once in the door and through security, you are marched up several flights of stone stairs at the top of which (after gasping for breath) you turn the corner and are greeted by this.
Your first reaction is holy #%*^ this is impressive. Then you realize there are rooms every few feet that adjoin this gallery. That’s when you realize you should have taken your visit to the Uffizi a little more seriously. There are now 101 separate rooms filled with priceless collections of artwork from the last 800 years. It’s staggering.
Now we’ll take you on an abbreviated tour of some of our favorites.
These are Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca from around 1465.
These portraits are part of a larger series called “Virtue’, and are known as Charity from 1469. The Virtue’s attributes are blazing fire and a child, who she is suckling. The colors are deep and rich.
This is Madonna and Child Enthroned by Botticelli from around 1487. Stunning.
The next one is another Botticelli, called The Birth of Venus from around 1482.
This one is called Madonna and Child with the Archangel Michael from around 1486 and was painted by a Florentine named Ghirlandaio.
Then we came upon this jewel box of a room, called The Tribuna. In the center of the stunning octagonal Tribuna, in itself a work of art, is the Medici Venus, the most famous Classical marble sculpture in Florence and thought to be a late Greek version of the Aphrodite of Cnidus by Praxiteles.
You aren’t allowed to enter the room, but there are three porticos from which you may take photos. It was extremely difficult to tear yourself away from The Tribuna.
This is another room you cannot enter and it is called the Cabinet of Miniatures. It is filled with tiny works of art and it is also beautiful.
Then you turn the corner and realize you’re only half way through! No! Not possible!
Many, many more rooms to visit.
Another Ghirlandaio called Adoration of the Magi from 1487. It was painted to celebrate the birth of the first son of two famous Florentines.
Then we started to see some sculptures. This is one of the tickets line outside the Uffizi in an earlier century.
Kidding, but not so far off. Make sure you get your reservations in advance for the Uffizi! This actually is called Sarcophagus with the Labours of Hercules and is from around 150AD. The sarcophagus shows Hercules at different stages of his life.
This beauty is called simply Annunciation and was painted around 1475 by Leonardo da Vinci. Imagine that. There are certain anomalies in this painting such as Mary’s excessively long right arm disappears if you look at the painting from below and to the right. This suggests it once graced a side altar in the church of San Bartolomeo in Florence which was its’ original home.
Another da Vinci, this one called Adoration of the Magi from around 1481. This piece was never finished by da Vinci as he left for Milan shortly after starting it. This explains the lack of colors.
Then we came to the Niobe Room. The sculptures that give name to this great room were found in Rome, near Porta San Giovanni, in 1583. The Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici, the future Grand Duke of Tuscany, bought them immediately, for his Roman villa.
The marble statues depict the Greek myth of Niobe – the proud mother who boasted of having more children than Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis. The goddess punished Niobe by killing all her sons and daughters.
Everything about this room was stunning. To think these statues stood in someone’s garden at one point is incredible!
Then we laid our eyes upon Hermaphrodite.
The character portrayed comes from Greek mythology and was the child of Hermes and Aphrodite. The youth is lying on a lion pelt placed over a rocky surface. Half man and half woman, the bisexuality of Hermaphrodite is based on its union with the nymph Salmacis, who asked the gods to keep both their bodies in one in return for eternal love.
The famous statue below is called Laocoon, is from the early 1500s and was made by Bandinelli.
This is a copy of the original that was unearthed in Rome in 1506 and sits in the Vatican today. This copy was commissioned as a gift in 1520 by Pope Leo to King Francis I. It has been in the Uffizi since 1671.
Next we came to a Bronzino called Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatichi from around 1545.
It is a companion piece to a portrait of her husband, also at the Uffizi. Everything about this portrait tells the viewer about Lucrezia’s wealth and religiosity, such as her jewelry and the text she is reading.
This piece is called Portrait of Alessandro de ‘Medici from around 1534 and was interesting because Florence is depicted in the background.
This incredible piece actually looks like it could be a photo. It is called Portrait of Eleonora of Toledo and her son Giovanni and was painted by Bronzino in 1545.
Eleonora was the daughter of the Viceroy of Naples. The duchess’s silk brocade gown embroidered in the Spanish style with a pomegranate (a symbol of fertility) recalls the revival of the silk industry under her husband Cosimo I whom she married in 1539.
Another beauty was this one, called Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino from 1537.
Just look through her window at the Tuscan countryside. So alive!
Another famous piece in the Uffizi is the Medusa by Caravaggio from around 1595.
It’s been in the Uffizi since 1598. In person it is formidable.
Look at the candlelight and shadows in this piece.
It is called The Fame, painted by Godfried Schalken around 1665. The artist was a Dutch painter who specialized in this genre of “night light”, the artificial light that splits the darkness of the night.
Another candlelight masterpiece is Annunciation by Matthias Stomer from around 1635.
The artist was a keen lover of Caravaggio and painted this during a stay in Naples.
Our visit to the Uffizi would not have been complete without seeing this gorgeous Rembrandt called A Rabbi from 1665.
This piece came to Florence in 1698 either through a purchase or as a gift.
The last masterpiece we saw was by Paul Rubens and is called Portrait of Isabella Brandt from 1626.
Isabella was Rubens’ first wife who died at a very young age. It is probably posthumous, and is based on a drawing from life made several years earlier, which is now at the British Museum in London. This painting has been in the Uffizi since 1773.
These were just a few of the most beautiful pieces we saw during our visit. You simply can’t imagine the breadth and depth of the collection. But you must see it. Come to Florence, hurry. Just be ready for the crowds.
