Uffizi Gallery
From the 14th of June 2011 to the 8th of January 2012
To celebrate the fifth centenary of the birth of Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) and the building of the Uffizi (1559-1560) a special exhibition is being held until January 8th 2012. It celebrates the fact that the Uffizi is more than just an administration building, it is an urban architectural complex and the result of a close collaboration between Vasari and the Grand Duke, Cosimo I Medici.
Vasari’s Uffizi Gallery is located in the heart of the city and reflects the political power of Cosimo, who merged and concentrated the political and artistic might of the Medici rule over Florence in one area. In fact, the name “Uffizi” means “Offices” or rather ‘the offices of political power and artistic superiority.’ The versatility and genius of Vasari is demonstrated in his ability to give a formal space and persuasive architecture to Cosimo’s political agenda. The building, indeed, is a true fragment of the ‘new city’ which unites in a single organism the two ducal residences of Palazzo Vecchio (the seat of the government) and Palazzo Pitti, on the other side of the Arno, the private residence of the Duke.
The exhibition, which focuses on these two figures, the Duke and Vasari, and also on the location of the Uffizi: its relationship with the Arno and Palazzo Vecchio. It then covers the design stages of the gallery and its construction, which was the most important and extensive construction project in the 1500s in Florence. The show also illustrates the spatial and figurative details of the building, among them the wooden doors of the Magistrature, the formal decor that is reminiscent of Roman architecture, but also the architectural aspects that recall the buildings in Rome and Venice, two cities in which Vasari spent many years.
Exhibition website (only in Italian):Vasari, the Uffizi and the Duke