The first mono-graphic exhibition dedicated to Gerrit van Honthorst, also known as Gherardo delle Notti in Italian, has opened at the Uffizi Gallery.
The exhibit is part of your admission ticket, so make sure to stop and visit!! It is a great exhibit that brings works from across Italy and the world – from the National Gallery in London, the Staatliche Museen in Berlin, the Hermitage of St. Petersburg, the Alte Pinakothek in Munich, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Together with the 4 works by Gherardo at the Uffizi, this is a unique opportunity to see works by the great Dutch Caravaggio.
See the full details on the exhibit here.
Following the Ministerial decree from July 2014, many State museums in Italy are part of the “Sunday at the Museum” initiative and this means that the first Sunday of the month entrance is free for everyone.
For the first few months, the Uffizi Gallery allowed the pre-booking of tickets online for these dates, but by November 2014, it was decided it was no longer going to do so, as it created a two-tier level of entrance on dates when everyone was to enter equally. This now means everyone has to stand in line to get a chance to visit the museum on this day. Expect long lines, given the popularity of visiting the museum on this day by both locals and visitors alike.
This means you cannot book the first Sunday of the month online AT ANY of the online ticket websites and it will seem as if the date is blocked out as it is for Mondays, when the museum is closed.
We confirm that the museum is OPEN and free on this dates, the first Sunday of every month for 2015:
January 4
February 1
March 1
April 5 (Easter Sunday; it is likely the Uffizi will be open the following day with a special opening, paid entrance)
May 3
June 7
July 5
August 2
September 6
October 4
November 1 (All Saint’s Day; again, likely museum will have special opening following day, paid entrance)
December 6
If you’re in Florence on this day of the month and you want to absolutely visit the Uffizi, we suggest arriving early but to also be prepared to be extra patient with long lines. To follow and maintain security protocol, the museum will only allow entrance up to a certain number of visitors; you have to wait for museum visitors to exit before more visitors are allowed inside.
As all of the city’s State and civic museums are free on that day, we suggest the option of visiting any of these other museums on that day and visiting the Uffizi on another when it likely won’t be as crowded. Read more details on these additional museums here.
Inaugurated on December 20, the 14th edition of “I mai visti” (or “Never Seen Before”) called “The Collection of Russian Icons at the Uffizi” will be open until February 1st, 2015 at the Reali Poste space at the Uffizi Gallery.
The collection includes about 70 works that belong to the Florentine museum since at least 1761, when they were already a part of the collections of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, then led by the Lorraines of Austria. These are at the heart of the oldest Russian icon collection that exists outside of the Orthodox world. Of various formats and iconographies, the icons were created in Russian workshops and in other important centers of Russia, between the end of the 16th century and the first decades of the 18th century.
Guided visits
Starting January 7th, the exhibit at the Reali Poste will also be offering free guided visits every Wednesday afternoon at 2:30pm and 3:45pm and every Thursday morning at 10:15am and 11:30am.
Childrens workshops
The exhibit is also organizing workshops for children (ages 5-10) on January 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31, 2015, starting at 10:30am connected to the exhibit. Participation is free, but it does need to be booked ahead of time by emailing: cristinabonavia@gmail.com.
Give the gift of a restoration
Professional guides from the Associazione Mercurio are organizing the “Gift of Restoration” initiative in the form of guided visits before the 7th of January. Visits are offered Saturday and Sunday December 27th and 28th and January 4th and 6th 2015 every 20 minutes starting at 2pm and continuing until 4pm. On January 4th and 6th the guided visits at 3pm will be in English. We recommend you book your guided visit by emailing regalatiunrestauro@mercurio-italy.org. All proceeds collected during these guided visits will go Amici degli Uffizi to fund the restoration of a work of art from the Uffizi Gallery.
Free entrance
Open: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am – 5pm
December 20, 2014 – February 1, 2015
By pure fortunate coincidence, visitors to the Uffizi Gallery this holiday period (up until January 6, 2015), will have the chance to admire the masterpieces of the museum’s permanent collection but also 3 additional exhibits!
For this reason, it is best to remind everyone that during the holiday season, the Uffizi Gallery will closed only on December 25th and 29th and January 1st, with a special opening on January 5th.
These are the 3 current exhibits at the Uffizi that are part of your ticket:
– The Pure, Simple and Natural in Art in Florence Between the 16-17th centuries
Last days for the exhibition that was to end in November, extended until January 6.
– Amico Reconsidered: Drawings by Amico Aspertini and other Artists from Bologna
Until February 8th, in the Detti room in the Departments of Prints and Drawings within the Uffizi. What started as an online exhibit now allows the originals to be seen in this room, a selection of Amico’s 15th century drawings from the Department itself alongside those of a few contemporary artists from his own birth city to better understand the context in which he trained and worked in. With the use of his pen and diluted inks, colored pigments and white lead, Amico created broad strokes and outlines, vigorous crossed lines to create depth. You’ll be able to see Amico’s interest in the antique, his reflection of other masters of his time, including Michelangelo and Raphael, and the influence the circulation of prints from Germany had on his work.
– Ieri. I Musei (Yesterday, the Museums. A Historical Photograph Exhibit of Florence’s Museums from the Photographic Archive)
Along the walls of the Fireplace room, within the first floor of the Uffizi, you’ll find the photographic exhibit with views of museums from the turn of the 19th century. The Archive itself was founded in 1904, and some of the shots taken by staff from that office date back to this time. The exhibit documents how the museums have changed over 100 years, from how they have been set up to how they have promoted art and culute. We make note of a very special photograph: one from December 1913 that shows Leonardo da Vinci’s Monnalisa on exhibit at the Uffizi’s Self-Portraits Gallery two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum in Paris.
December 1913, brief exhibit of the Monnalisa in Florence after it was stolen from the Louvre in Paris
Enjoy your visit and Happy Holidays!
On Saturday, October 11, the Uffizi Gallery will be celebrating Italy’s “Day of Contemporary Art” by opening up the last part of the Vasari Corridor to special guided visits.
The last part of the Vasari Corridor is dedicated to Self-Portraits from the 1900s and was inaugurated in Septeber 2013. For the day, there are 6 hour-long guided visits planned, all free, at 9am, 10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.
They will be conducted only in Italian, with a maximum of 25 persons per group. If you’re here and interested in seeing this part of the Vasari Corridor, take note: you can only reserve by calling to make the reservation (you can book up to 4 people with one call) starting October 6 between the local time of 8:30am-6:30pm at +39-055-294-883. This is a call center that does have an English speaking line.
Meeting place will be at the entrance of the Rondò di Bacco in the Boboli Gardens 15 minutes before your visit. If you are late, you will lose your spot to participate in the visit.
It is likely the spaces will fill up fast so if you’re in Florence that day and want to take part, plan on calling this Monday to reserve your spot.
REMINDER: This first Sunday of the month, October 5th, the Uffizi and all State museums in Florence are FREE entrance! ENJOY!!
As all current visitors to Florence already know, yesterday afternoon there was heavy rain and hail in Florence, very unusual for the season. Several museums in Florence suffered damages and many closed, including the Uffizi Gallery.
All visitors who already had tickets to the Uffizi will be able to visit either today or Sunday, September 20 and 21. Anyone who cannot make use of their ticket this weekend can request a refund.
The Bargello, Accademia and Uffizi reopened yesterday afternoon after a brief temporary closure, but heavy damage to both the Museum of San Marco and to the Boboli Gardens means these two will remain closed for the next week. Palazzo Pitti suffered from many broken windows but these have already been repaired. The remaining State museums in Florence are all open regularly.
The New Uffizi project moves on to modernize the Uffizi Gallery and this was going to happen sooner or later: six main rooms of the museum will close for renovations on Tuesday, July 22.
The 6 rooms are:
- Hall 2 – the hall with the 3 Maesta’ by Cimabue, Giotto and Duccio di Buoninsegna
- Hall 3 – dedicated to 14th century Sienese artists
- Hall 4 – 14th century Florentine artists
- Hall 5 and 6 – International Gothic
- Hall 7 – hall dedicated to works of the Early Renaissance
These halls compose an important part of the itinerary visitors follow, but the halls last saw major maintenance in the 1950s. They have inadequate air-systems (particularly in the summer when air conditioning seems non-existent). The renovation project includes new air conditioning and treatment systems as well as new lighting.
A selection of the major works of art displayed in these rooms has already been move to Halls 43, 44 and 45. Renovation works should be completed by Spring 2015.
Starting this Friday, July 4th, the Uffizi Gallery will be open for two more hours every Friday. As recently decided by the Cultural Affairs and Tourism Ministry, the Uffizi Gallery will be changing its opening hours to make it possible for visitors to enjoy the museum later into the evening on a set day of the week. This is not limited to the summer period.
From July 1st through September 30th, the Uffizi Gallery will have extended hours every Tuesday, closing at 10pm. Normal entrance fees will apply.
During this period, the Uffizi Gallery is hosting the exhibition “Pure, Simple and Natural” (June 17-November 2), so tickets during extended hours will be full price that includes a visit to the museum as well as to the exhibition.
Check and book your tickets online now by using the Booking box to the right –>
Yesterday, Italian Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini announced revolutionary changes for State museums across all of Italy. These will impact the Uffizi Gallery.
The major change is that free tickets will only be available for those under 18 years old (and a few other groups, such as teachers) and reduced tickets for those under 25 years old. Everyone else will be paying a full entry ticket. This means that all over 65 years old will now be paying entrance. Precise details are being worked out and will be updated before the end of the month.
The second major change is that every first Sunday of the month state museums will be free for everyone as part of the initiative “Sunday at the Museum“.
Another change announced as part of the Ministerial decree signed and announced yesterday is that there will be two annual “Nights at the Museum” every calendar year, where entrance only costs a euro (as it did in this last edition in May) and opening times extend late into the night while all major museums, including the Uffizi Gallery, will have extended opening times until 10pm every single Friday evening.
To view a full list of state museums in Florence, go here.
To view the list of all state museums in Tuscany, check the Ministerial website here.
