Discover What's Inside Uffizi Gallery | Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures & More
What's Uffizi Gallery?
Originally built in the 1560s as an administrative office for the House of Medici, the Uffizi Gallery eventually became the home of the family’s carefully curated art collections.
While the building designed by Giorgio Vasari is in itself a sight to behold, it is the art on display that brings millions of people every year to this museum. The extensive and exquisite collection at the gallery includes drawings, sketches, books, prints, paintings, and sculptures, from the 12th to the 17th century. Here you will find some of the best works of renowned artists such as Giotto, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Caravaggio, and many more.
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What’s Inside Uffizi Gallery?
Paintings
The Uffizi Gallery is home to some of the most famous and iconic Renaissance paintings from the 12th to the 17th century, displayed across 45 halls. The older Florentine and Tuscan paintings dating back to the 13th century are displayed in the Primitivi Rooms. The most admired paintings at the gallery include Doni Tondo by Michelangelo, Birth of Venus and Spring by Sandro Botticelli, Portrait of an Old Man by Rembrandt van Rijn, Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci. Many versions of Mary (Madonna) and Jesus (Baby) portrayed by various artists such as Signorelli, Raphael, Masolino, Sanzio, Giovanni, Giotto, Lotto, Parmigianino, Botticelli, Bramantino, Pontormo, and others can also be seen here.
Architecture
The Uffizi Palace, designed with a classical Doric style façade with large windows, featured differently sized rooms on the inside, with no relation to the exterior. These rooms, connected by corridors adorned with fresco-decorated ceilings, were all designed in different styles and at different times. The Primitivi Rooms were designed to be minimalist and traditional, following the Modern Architecture movement. The Niobe Room with antique-style decorations followed neoclassical architecture. The Tribune was designed as an octagonal room with cosmic iconographic interiors and a ceiling decorated with red cochineals, mother of pearls, and gold. The grand staircases were built as a mix of Florentine Renaissance and Neoclassical styles.
Sculptures
A number of antique sculptures by renowned European artists adorn the East, South, and West corridors of Uffizi Gallery’s second floor. The collection includes Hellenistic marble sculptures, ancient Roman portrait statues, a few Roman sarcophagi, sculptures from the Romanesque period, and Roman copies of lost Greek sculptures. You will also find sculpted funerary and honorary altars, and busts from the Medici Family at various spots around the gallery. There is a special room at the gallery that houses some of the classical figurines from the San Marco Sculpture Garden, where Michelangelo studied sculpting. Some of the more modern sculptures on display at the gallery include ‘I passi d’oro (The Golden Strides)’ by Roberto Barni, and ‘Present’ by Antony Gormley.
Prints and Drawings
The Department of Prints and Drawings at the Uffizi Gallery features masterpieces created by renowned artists with pens and pencils on paper. The collection features a variety of prints and drawings including sketches, drawings, etchings, drypoint prints, Burlin engravings, and acid engravings. The most prominent works on display include Andrea Mantegna’s ‘Self-portrait in the style of Medusa’, Rembrandt van Rijn’s realistic sketches of ‘Jan Lutma, goldsmith’ and ‘Christ healing the sick’, and Alfonso Parigi’s series depicting ‘The Liberation of Ruggiero from the island of Alcina’. Francesco Marchissi, Jacopo di Giovanni di Francesco, Raffaello Sanzio, Jacopo dal Ponte, and Giovanni Battista Piranesi are some of the other featured artists.
Books and Archives
Towards the second half of the 18th century, a library was set up in the foyer of the Medicean Theatre, to store books, manuscripts, and documents. The Medici and Lorena Archives were finally set up in the Uffizi Gallery by 1892. In 1998, however, most of the collections, except for two sections, were moved into the Magliabechiana Library which specializes in storing historical artistic publications for research purposes. The archives include 470 manuscripts, 5 incunabula, 1136 periodicals, 192 sixteenth-century editions of books, and 1445 books printed between the years 1601 and 1800. What remains in the gallery now is a section on the archive containing the documents referring to museums from the Lorena and pre-unification era.
Can I Go Inside the Uffizi Gallery?
The Medici family’s most prized and carefully curated artwork collection was opened to the public in 1765 and made into a museum in 1865.
Today, the Uffizi Gallery is known to house the world’s greatest collection of Italian Renaissance art comprising almost 200,000 artworks created by renowned artists between the 12th and the 17th centuries.
The gallery allows free entry for all visitors on the first Sunday of every month. For all other days, you can buy entry tickets online in advance to ensure guaranteed hassle-free access.
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Frequently Asked Questions About What’s Inside Uffizi Gallery
A. Inside the Uffizi Gallery you will see the world’s largest collection of Italian Renaissance art comprising sculptures, paintings, sketches, drawings, prints, and books from the 12th to the 17th century.
A. Yes, guided tours are available inside the Uffizi Gallery, where you will be accompanied by a historical art expert who will explain the exhibits to you. Alternatively, you can purchase a museum guide from the bookstore at the entrance and tour on your own.
A. The Uffizi Gallery covers an area of around 13,000 square meters, comprising 101 exhibition rooms spread across 3 floors.
A. ‘Doni Tondo’ by Michelangelo, ‘Birth of Venus’ by Sandro Botticelli, ‘Portrait of an old man’ by Rembrandt, ‘Adoration of the Magi’ by Leonardo da Vinci, ‘Venus of Urbino’ by Titian, ‘Medusa’ by Caravaggio, ‘Christ healing the sick’ by Rembrandt, and ‘The Duke and Duchess of Urbino’ by Piero Della Francesca are some of the must-see artworks inside the Uffizi Gallery.
A. Visitors excluding people with disabilities and children under the age of 18, require a ticket to be allowed inside the Uffizi Gallery. The gallery allows free admission on the first Sunday of every month.
A. Personal photography is allowed inside the Uffizi Gallery. However, flash photography and the use of tripods, selfie sticks, drones, and other photography equipment are strictly prohibited.
A. Visitors with disabilities and children under the age of 18 can avail of free admission to the Uffizi Gallery with a valid id. All other visitors must purchase a ticket to be allowed inside. Admission to the gallery is also free on the first Sunday of every month.
A. Uffizi Gallery displays the world’s largest collection of Italian Renaissance art from the 12th to the 17th century, including the works of famous artists such as Rembrandt, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rafaelo, and Botticelli, making it definitely worth a visit.
A. The Uffizi Gallery is open from 8:15 AM to 6:30 PM throughout the week except on Mondays. The gallery remains closed on the 1st of January and the 25th of December.
A. The Uffizi Gallery houses more than 6,000 paintings, 177,000 drawings and prints, and scores of sculptures and other artworks.
A. Yes, the Uffizi Gallery hosts exhibitions and events throughout the year.
