Uffizi gallery tour (about 3 hours)
It is the most visited museum in Florence and one of the most important painting collections in the world, which displays the evolution of Italian painting thanks to works by Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Andrea del Sarto, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and other famous painters which mere names make the imagination fly and ignite passion of the art lovers.
It's quite easy to get acquainted with the paintings exhibited in chronological order starting from XIII up to XVIII centuries and also classified by schools (workshops) and countries. What you need to do is just admire the masterpieces! If you are for the first time in Florence I strongly recommend to see this art treasury.
The building of the Uffizi was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici to host State archives and the offices (uffici, hence "uffizi") for the Florentine magistrates. The origins of the collection go back to the son of Cosimo I, Francesco I Medici, who started the history of Uffizi as a private museum in 1581. Nevertheless, the gallery opened it's doors as a public museum only in 1765, after the end of Medici dynasty which ruled Florence for 300 years. The collection is a precious heritage of many ages of Florentine history, fashion, taste and customs starting from the roman times, middle ages, renaissance and reaching baroque period in the art history.
Recently there were opened several new rooms in the Uffizi. Octagonal Tribuna of and the hall of Niobe were restored in 2015. Tribuna was for centuries the central attraction of the gallery with it's sculpture Medici Venus. A gorgeous painting Doni Tondo of the Holy Family by Michelangelo now is exhibited in the Red room with a new lighting. The Uffizi often houses temporary exhibitions of art from different countries and private collections.
Let's go to contemplate the art masterpieces!
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