This morning we visited the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, after walking past the Duomo one last time in the calm of the morning.
The Uffizi building houses a collection of works dating primarily from antiquity through the 18th century. Perched on the banks of the Arno River, it was commissioned by Cosimo di Medici in the mid 16th century and designed by artist Giorgio Vasari. The Medici name is closely associated with the Renaissance and Florence. Members of this wealthy banking family were collectors of Greek and Roman antiquities and patrons of living artists. The Catholic Church in addition to the royal courts and nobility was a major patron of artists.
There were lots and lots of ancient Roman statues and busts, many of former Roman emperors including Nero. There were also so many statues of gods and goddesses. Paintings featured Christ’s Annunciation, crucifixions, adorations, Madonnas, Jesus and John as babies, but also some portraits of the Medici family and others and works by Michelangelo, Ruben, da Vinci, Botticelli (the seven virtues), Rembrandt and many more.
It was very very crowded by the time we had been there a couple of hours. We spent 3.5 hours there…an art historian could spend all day.
There’s a cafe on the second floor and restrooms between the floors.
After seeing the gallery we walked back to our apartment and packed up for our departure very early Monday, since we were going to be gone the next day…and I had to reschedule bus tickets which had been cancelled.
Tim and I walked to the nearby fortress and to check out the times and location of the tram which will take us to the bus tomorrow. The fortress was closed but we walked around the massive structure which took nearly an hour. It was a lovely afternoon, much warmer than the past two days.
