The Uffizi [antikvár]

The Uffizi: its Origins and Collections One of the world's most important museums, the Uffizi Gallery was one of the first in Europe to emerge in accordance with the modem idea of a museum, that is to say as a systematically organised exhibition space designed for pubUe viewing. Two centuries before it was officially opened in 1765, the Gallery was in fact open to visitors on request: in 1591, a guide to Florence written by Francesco Bocchi describes it as: "amongst the most supremely beautiful sights in the World filled with ancient statues, with noble paintings and extremely precious objects". It is worth remembering that it was created in a city which had long since been the first to revisit the disused term museum, which for the ancient Greeks signified a space dedicated to the Muses: in Florence it was used to describe the collection of antique sculptures which Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492) estabhshed in the garden at San Marco. Artists such as Leonardo and Michelangelo gathered here "for beauty, for worli and for recreation", as Giorgio Vasari relates. This latter was not only the architect of the Ufflzi but also the author of the Lives of the Artists published in 1550 and in 1568, a work which will frequently be referred to in this guide. The origins of the Uffizi date back to 1560, when at the request of the Medici duke Gosimo I (1519-1574), Vasari designed a grand palazzo with two wings, "along the river, almost floating in the air", which housed the Magistrature, or the administrative and judicial offices - Uffizi - of the duchy of Tuscany. Five years later Vasari oversaw in a few short months the building of the elevated gallery which, connecting the Ufflzi to the new Medici residence at Palazzo Pit-ti, runs to this day over the Ponte Vecchio and the church of Santa Félicita, leading out into the Boboli gardens. In a imique urban relationship, the Vasari Corridor unites the nerve centres of city: the river, the oldest bridge and the seats of power, along a spectacular elevated walkway. But it is to Cosimo's son, Francesco 1 (1541-1587) that we owe the first real nucleus of the Gallery. The introverted Grand Duke had already established a Studiolo filled with paintings and precious obj ects in his residence in the Palazzo Vecchio, which was later also j oined to the Uffizi by an elevated passageway. Aroimd 1581 he transformed the top floor of the Uffizi into a gallery, a place for "walking, with paintings, statues and other precious things", and in 1586 gave the eclectic Berneu-do Buontalenti the task of creating the Medici Theatre. This provided a space for memorable performances, and corresponded in height to the present first and second floors of the museum, where we now find the col- f ' rr ¦. ¦, i ¦ '' I ¦! I I jl ît WM