Inside the Uffizi Gallery

Florence, Italy, 1560

oused in a former Medici palace in the heart of Florence, the Uffizi gallery is one of the most famous and popular art galleries in the world, attracting over two million visitors every year, who come to see its justly celebrated collection of Italian art – often queuing for over an hour to do so in the busy summer months. The original Uffizi palace was designed by Vasari for Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1560 and later linked by a corridor, known as the Vasari Corridor, to the other main Medici residence, the Pitti Palace.

The Medici family were enthusiastic collectors and commissioners of art, and together built up a formidable collection that comprised works by all of the most famous contemporary artists. When the Medici family died out with the death of Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici in 1743, the palace and its wonderful art collection was gifted to the people of Florence and officially opened to the public as a gallery in 1765 – although fortunate visitors to Florence had been able to visit by request since 1581. Since then, the collection has grown so enormous that some of it, in particular its Renaissance sculpture, has been placed in other locations around the city, but the main core collection, which includes world-famous pieces by such luminaries as Botticelli, Raphael, Leonardo and Michelangelo remains intact in the main Uffizi, which currently has over 100 rooms open to the public. Although the bulk of the collection reflects the Italian Renaissance preoccupation with religious scenes and motifs, there are also several mythological paintings on display, as well as many portraits, such as Piero della Francesca’s diptych of Duke Federico da Montefeltro and his wife Battista Sforza.

In May 1993, the building was badly damaged when the Sicilian mafia detonated a car bomb close by, but after extensive conservation work it has now been restored to its former glory.

The Annunciation

Leonardo da Vinci was only in his early twenties and still training as an apprentice in Verrochio’s studio when he painted his powerful Annunciation in 1472. As is typical of his work, the painting is full of symbolism relating both to the subject matter of Mary’s virginity and the city of Florence, where it was painted. Although Verrochio almost certainly assisted him, most of the painting is Leonardo’s own work.

The Birth Of Venus

One of the most famous and easily recognisable paintings in the Uffizi is Botticelli’s stunning mythological allegory The Birth Of Venus, which was painted in the mid 1480s for a member of the Medici family and uses an ancient Roman motif of the goddess Venus standing in a shell as she is blown to shore. The lovely Venus was almost certainly modelled on the famous beauty Simonetta Vespucci.

The Ognissanti Madonna

It’s clear from the stylisation and heavy gold decoration that Giotto was heavily inspired by Byzantine art when he created his masterpiece, also known as The Madonna Enthroned, in around 1310. However, although it is influenced by much earlier work, Giotto was an artistic pioneer and the naturalism and use of perspective in this work has often led to it being described as the first true Renaissance painting.

Madonna And Child

Known for his softly pretty Madonnas, Fra Lippi created his most celebrated and best-loved Madonna And Child in around 1455, while he was working for the powerful Medici family in Florence. However, although he was a monk, his serene and beautiful Madonna was almost certainly modelled on his mistress Lucrezia Buti, while at least one of the children was probably based on their son Filippino.

Doni Tondo

The Doni Tondo (also known as the Doni Madonna) is one of only three surviving panel paintings by Michelangelo and the only one that he painted without the help of assistants. It was commissioned in around

1507 by Agnolo Doni to commemorate his marriage to Maddalena Strozzi. Dynamic and, thanks to the figures in the background, somewhat enigmatic, it was clearly inspired by Michelangelo’s close study of ancient sculptures.

Eleanor Of Toledo

Although the Uffizi is undoubtedly best known for its Italian Renaissance masterpieces, it also houses several paintings from different eras – including a collection of sumptuous Bronzino portraits of the Medici family, who ruled Florence for over three centuries. His 1545 portrait of Eleanor de Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, posing with one of her sons is perhaps his masterpiece.

Bacchus

Caravaggio was already one of the most infamous and talked about artists in Italy when he painted his celebrated and strangely disturbing Bacchus in 1595, modelling the young god’s features on his friend Mario Minniti. If you look closely, you can spot a self portrait of the artist reflected in the wine glass that Bacchus is offering to the viewer.

Madonna Of The Goldfinch

Raphael was just 22 years old and already one of the most famous artists in Italy when he created this beautiful, touching painting of the Madonna flanked by the infant Christ and John the Baptist in 1505. It was intended as a wedding present for his friend Lorenzo Nasi and would be virtually destroyed during an earthquake – which necessitated a heavy duty ten year long restoration project in

2002.

Judith Slaying Holofernes

Although there are sadly very few paintings by women in the Uffizi’s enormous collection, one of the undoubted highlights is Artemisia Gentileschi’s powerful, energetic and undoubtedly cathartic 1614-20 depiction of Judith, who is a self portrait, savagely beheading Holofernes, who is modelled on Agostino Tassi, a pupil of her father’s, who had been tried and found guilty of raping her in 1612.

Venus Of Urbino

Titian based his 1534 painting of Venus on an earlier masterpiece by Giorgione, which depicted Venus reclining outdoors. In contrast, Titian decided to move his alluring Venus, who was painted for a Medici Cardinal and may have been modelled on a well known Florentine courtesan, indoors and placed her in front of an everyday Italian interior to make her more relatable and immediate to the viewer.