The Uffizi Gallery

First up, I have to correct the record. For the last two days, Chris and I have been a day out in the week in our minds, ie., we thought it was the following day rather than the actual day it was, and we did not tweak to it until bedtime last night. So, some of our plans have had to change. For instance, in my last post, I indicated that today would begin with a tour of the Duomo. No, that’s tomorrow. Today was a ticketed time to go through Firenze’s most famous gallery, the Uffizi.

Showered and scrubbed up, we were very glad that our ticketed time was 8.15am because today was forecast at 40° which it reached easily. The maximum is not reached until after lunch, so we felt that going through a large gallery like the Uffizi before the worst of the heat of the day could only be a good thing.

The Uffizi was opened to the public as a gallery in 1769. The building was built for Cosimo de Medici in 1560 and completed in 1581. Cosimo wanted it so that it could be the centre of the Medici’s commercial enterprises and to focus the city’s agencies, guilds and committees in one place. The offices, In Italian, uffici. Uffizi. It is a square U shape, the two legs of the U, very very long and multi-storeyed. After the end of the Medicis regnum, the last of them, heiress Anna Luisa negotiated for the family’s art collection to be gifted to the city of Firenze.

The two long legs of the gallery have painted ornate ceilings their entire length. It is incredible to see. On each wall of the legs, there is a vast array of ancient and Renaissance statuary. Hundreds and hundreds of busts and statues line both walls of both legs of the U. There are rooms off the legs that you go into to see the paintings.

The Uffizi is filled to overflowing with Renaissance masters. A couple that I enjoyed were Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Baptism of Christ (1475), Da Vinci’s The Annunciation (1472-75), Perugino’s Lamentation over the Dead Christ (c1400) and Botticelli’s The Calumny of Appelles (c1495). Of course, Botticelli’s two most famous paintings were there to see, the Birth of Venus and Primavera (Spring). I had a hard time with young women posing flirtatious shots in front of these masterpieces taking up the space and blocking the view of other patrons. No doubt, these ‘sexy’ poses are all for their Instagram followers, but it did nothing for me, old curmudgeon I apparently am.

The crowds grew as time went on, but it was a controlled entry, probably about 100 I would estimate each half hour. It was never a crowd crush and all in all, I found it manageable. Overall, I found the Uffizi an incredible gallery and I am certainly glad we went to see its priceless treasures. It was to be honest, a bit of challenge to emotionally connect with the gallery, what with heat and the numbers, but I think I managed it ultimately. The building and its contents are very special and worth preserving for the generations to come.

A beer in an Italian beer garden type of establishment was followed by a wander through the streets around the Uffizi where we came upon a lovely stationery shop. Chris bought some odds n ends, and I bought three miniatures of Firenze to go on the wall over our bedhead. Then home to get out of the heat. Survival mode kicks in for everyone once it reaches later thirties and early forties in temperature and people just naturally do what they can to get themselves out of it. I had a nap and read my novel under the air con at our apartment. It was a very pleasant afternoon.

We went out for dinner tonight to a local ristorante, a little family affair around the corner where we bought two antipasto plates, a prosciutto and a bruschetta. Dolce of the day for Chris, and tiramisu for me washed down with a couple of spritzes. Home for the evening now and more relaxation. Tomorrow, we do our tour of the Duomo. Finally.Читать далее