The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. One and a half million visitors a year admire one of the most beautiful art collections from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Only 660 visitors are allowed in at the same time, so it is recommended to book in advance.
Galleria degli Uffizi Florence
Address, opening hours and ticket price
The address of the Uffizi Gallery is Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6 – 50122 Florence (tel. +39 0552388651). The entrance fee is 6,50. Young people from the European Union between the ages of 18 and 25 pay €3.25, while those over 65 and over 18 (from EU countries) can enter free of charge. The museum is open from 08.15 to 18.30 hours. Closed on Monday. 1 January, 1 May and 25 December closed. The box office closes at 18.05 hours. Booking (tel. +39 055 294883) costs 4 Euro and is highly recommended.
History Uffizi Gallery
The museum is on the top floor of a building designed by Giorgio Vasari and constructed between 1560 and 1580.
It was intended as the seat of the administration of the Tuscan State. This is where the name Uffizi comes from. The client was Grand Duke Francesco I, who later received help from several descendants of the famous Medici family. The members of this family were well-known art collectors.
The Lorena dynasty added more works to the collection, as well as later the Italian State. In the 20th century a number of works of art were moved from the Galleria dell’Accademia to the Uffizi.
Highlights Galleria degli Uffizi
Madonna Rucellai
The Madonna Rucellai was made in 1285 by Duccio di Buoninsegna. This painting from the Rucellai Chapel in the Santa Maria Novella Church has been hanging in the Uffizi since 1937. It is characteristic of the Sienese school because of its radiant colors and gothic influences. The Domenicans, who had ordered the work, had Duccio put medallions of their venerated saints at the bottom of the painting.
Doni Tondo
This is a painting Michelangelo made in 1505 for the wedding of Agnolo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi. It is considered a precursor to his masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Botticelli
There are a number of rooms in the museum dedicated to Sandro Botticelli. An absolute highlight is the “Birth of Venus”, which is seen by many as the symbol of the city and the ideal of female beauty in art. It was painted between 1482 and 1485.
Foreign Artists
It is not only paintings by Italian masters that are on display. There are also paintings by masters such as Rubens and Rembrandt.
Antique Statues
In addition to painting, a section of the museum is devoted to ancient sculpture.
The Hall of Vasari
Vasari was also responsible for the gallery above the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Felicita Church. This connects the Uffizi with the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. This Corridoio Vasariano was built in 1565. It exhibits impressive collections of 17th century paintings. The hall is more than a kilometre long.
Galleria degli Uffizi – Piazzale degli Uffizi 6, Florence
