The Uffizi Gallery: A Renaissance Masterpiece and its Treasures

Exploring the Collections of the Uffizi: From Medieval to Modern (YouTube link)

Rising across the first and second floors of Vasari's 16th-century masterpiece, the Uffizi Gallery ⭐⭐⭐offers a captivating journey through artistic ages. From medieval beginnings to modern expressions, its walls whisper stories through ancient sculptures and paintings.

The Birth of Venus(Sandro Botticelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

La Primavera (Sandro Botticelli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Annunciation (Leonardo da Vinci, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons)

Madonna del Granduca (Raphael, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Highlights of the Collection

Renaissance masterpieces: The Uffizi Gallery is particularly famous for its collection of Renaissance paintings, including works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Some of the most iconic pieces include Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo's Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi, Raphael's Madonna del Granduca and Portrait of Pope Julius II, and Michelangelo's Doni Tondo.
Early Italian art: The gallery also boasts a significant collection of early Italian art, including works by Giotto, Cimabue, and Duccio di Buoninsegna.
Sculptures: The Uffizi Gallery also houses a collection of ancient Roman and Greek sculptures, as well as Renaissance sculptures by Donatello and Verrocchio.

Photo Gallery

This amazing art museum is packed with masterpieces! We visited the Uffizi Gallery during our 3-day trip to Florence in October 2023. Here are some photos of the beauty we saw during our visit.

Testa di Medusa (Oil on canvas-covered panel; c. 1597)
Classical myths on which Caravaggio had trained in his youth is reinterpreted here in a naturalistic vein, the eye open wide in horror, the mouth frozen in a cry of revulsion, the writhing tangle of serpents seemingly at odds with the drastically severed neck.

Afternoon in Fiesole (Self portrait by Baccio Maria Bacci)

Rubens' study (1635-1640; by Cornelis De Baellieur)

Laocoön and His Sons by Baccio Bandinelli
The Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli was commissioned to make a copy by the Medici Pope Leo X. Bandinelli's version, which was often copied and distributed in small bronzes, is in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, the Pope having decided it was too good to send to François I of France as originally intended.

Dying Alexander
It came to Florence in c. 1580 and was restored by Giovanni Caccini. The head, traditionally thought to portray the dying Alexander the Great, may be more properly interpreted as a triton.

Adoration of the Magi (oil on wood)
Leonardo never finished this large altarpiece, leaving for Milan shortly after making a start on it. Some figures are barely sketched, as though he were seeking to capture an idea, while others are more complete, those around the Virgin appearing to be in the grip of intense emotion. Formerly in the home of Florentine merchant Amerigo Benci, the altarpiece entered the Uffizi in 1670.

Portrait of an Old Man (Last quarter of the 15th century)
The fresco's plaster backing is applied directly onto an embrice, or terracotta roof tile, a technique known from several examples dating back to the 16th century.

The way to Calvary (1599 by Pieter Brueghel; Oil on panel)
The story of Christ carrying the cross is portrayed as a many-figured procession leading from Jerusalem to Calvary. The holy woman Veronica took pity on Christ and wiped his face with her veil, which became miraculously imprinted with is features.

Adoration of the Magi (1487)
This picturte may have been painted to celebrate the birth of the first son of Lorenzo Tomabuoni and Giovanna degli Albizzi, who were married the year before. Variety in the rending of pose, physical feature, decoration and classicizing architecture is a characteristic of the art of Domenico Ghirlandaio, a painter much appreciated by his contemporaries.

Doryphoros (Pentelic marble)
Possibly from Rome, this work is a replica of Polycletus' Doryphoros, the sculpture most frequently copied in the Roman era. The original, carved in c. 450 BCE, has been altered in part by the Roman artist though the addition of a cloak wrapped around the left arm, a feature totally missing from the protype.

Statue of Venus with Cupid holding a torch (Luni marble)
Acquired from Cardinal Colonna in 1584 and restored that same year by Silla Giacomo Longhi. The sculpture depicting Venus using her hands to cover her nakedness is a variant of the type known as the "Capitoline Venus" with, in this instance, a small Cupid by her side. The upended torch in the child's hand, a metaphor of death, tells us that the sculpture served a funeral purpose.

Young Satyr, so-called Mercury
The head is Classical and germane to the rest of the statue, but the winged hat (petasos) defining the figure as Mercury is in fact a Renaissance addition. The original Classical statue did not depict the messenger of the gods but a Satyr leaning on a tree trunk, a prototype carved by the sculptor Praxiteles in the mid-4th century BCE. This work was first recorded in Rome in 1536.

Apollo of Omphalos (Pentelic marble)
The use of prized Pentelic marble testifies to the quality and importance of this sculpture based on prototypes of the Severe style in Attica, particularly "Apollo of Omphalos" probably carved by Calamis (active from 480 to 440 BCE). The god leans on the trunk of a palm tree, his left arm (a Renaissance addition) holding a shield on which a Gorgon's head is carved in low relief.

Statue of Apollo resting (Greek marble)
The statue depicts the "Apollo resting" type, although this identification was clearly determined only in the 17th century when the sculpture was restored and integrated. In fact, the long locks of hair falling on his shoulders and the bulky anatomy of his body adhere to a late Classical prototype (4th century BCE) and are rather referable to the bust of a statue of Dionysus. Classical parts are the bust, portion of the left arm and right thigh. All the rest is likely to be the result of restoration works from the Baroque period.

Bust of Francesco I de' Medici (c1585)
This bust is a portrait of Grand Duke Francesco I of Tuscany, the son of Cosimo I de' Medici who commissioned Giorgio Vasari to build the Uffizi. The drapery in the bust is simply a sash setting off the armour, which in this instance is contemporary rather than in the more usual classical style. Another innovation is the twisting head setting the figure naturally in the surrounding space and heralding the style of the followin century. The wide-eyed look and sloping mouth add to the sitter's expressiveness.

Solaria at the Giubbe Rosse (1940)
The inscription "Solaria alle Giubbe Rosse | ricordo e fantasia | 1940" tells us that the painting is a tribute to the magazine and to its protagonists Franchi, Montale, Loria, Vittorini, Carocci and Bonsanti, all together at the table in the middle. The choice of a Futurist style alien to that tendency is unusual, yet it is reminiscent of the years in which the historic Florentine cafe was a focal point for the Avant-garde.

Friends at the cafe (1929-1930)
This painting portrays the intellectuals and artists who met at the Cafe Aragno.

Florence Unveiled: A Renaissance Panorama from the Uffizi

From the lofty windows of the Uffizi, Florence unfolds like a breathtaking panorama. The majestic dome of Santa Maria del Fiore dominates the skyline, its intricate marble facade ablaze in the afternoon sun. Below, the lively Ponte Vecchio thrums with life, its golden shops and arched bridges reflected in the shimmering Arno River.