Building of the Week: The Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Most people commonly refer to The Palazzo degli Uffizi (Uffizi Palace) as “The Uffizi Gallery” though, technically, the gallery is housed within the palace itself. Commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici in 1560, the original palace was initially designed by Giorgio Vasari and was intended to house the offices of Florentine Magistrates. The name “Uffizi” means “Offices.”

The initial phase of building was completed in 1581 by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti based on Vasari’s original designs. As envisioned, the palace stretches toward an uninterrupted view of the Arno River, visible through a Doric columned screen. Vasari was also a painter, and, in designing the palace employed his knowledge of perspective so that the whole of the structure would resemble a stylized streetscape. Designed to include long expanses of unbroken cornices, Doric columns and niches (which were finally filled with sculptures by world-famous artists in the Nineteenth Century,” the palace appears to reach out over the river.

With the offices of the Tribunal and the State Archive housed in one location, a committee was formed under the direction of Buontalenti and de Medici to select the finest masterpieces from both the de Medici art collection and also from Florentine artists to house within the palace. Soon, the palace became the home of a fine exhibition of art, thereby making it one of the first museums in the Western world. Though open to visitors as early as the Sixteenth Century, the Uffizi Gallery was opened to the public in 1765 and has stayed open ever since.

Not only is the Uffizi a museum, it is also a gathering place for artists to share, to learn, to relax and observe. Early in the palace’s history, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci could be found enjoying the sights and tranquility of the gallery.

Photo by Craig Porter

Today, the Uffizi continues to house some of the finest treasures of the art world. The collection includes works by Donatello, da Vinci, Cimabue, Giotto, Titian, Uccello, Duccio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt Van Rijn among many others. It’s only fitting that a magnificent building designed by a painter should become the permanent home of the works of the art world’s most talented painters and sculptors.