The Uffizi Gallery
Tucked between the Arno and the Piazza della Signoria, you will find one of the most famous museums in the world, the Uffizi Gallery.
The Uffizi occupies the top floor of the large, horseshoe-shaped building that was built by Giorgio Vasari between the years of 1560 and 1580. It was originally built to house the administrative offices of the Tuscan State. The collection of the gallery was begun by Grand-Duke Francesco I and then built upon by various members of the illustrious Medici family, who were great patrons of the arts, collectors and commissioners of paintings, sculpture, architecture, poetry, and other works of art. The collection was rearranged and enlarged by the Lorraine Grand-Dukes, who succeeded the Medici, and finally, the collection as it is today is maintained by the Italian State.
The collection on display includes Primitive and Renaissance paintings that comprise several masterpieces, including works by Giotto, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio. The gallery also holds work by German, Dutch and Flemish masters who are represented with paintings by Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens.
One of many of my favorite pieces in this museum is the Doni Tondo, by Michelangelo. When I saw it for the first time, it was just sitting alone in one of the last rooms in the gallery on an easel. Like it was waiting for me to come look at it.
Similar posts that you might like:
- Caravaggio and the Caravaggesques in Florence
- Galleria dell’Accademia
- Palazzo Vecchio
- Il Bargello
- The Mona Lisa
