The Uffizi Gallery: works, tickets, history and everything you should know

Galleria Uffizi | musei Firenze

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THE UFFIZI GALLERY: WORKS, TICKETS, HISTORY AND EVERYTHING YOU SHOULD KNOW

Which work of art does come into your mind first if you think of the Uffizi Gallery? Do you think of Botticelli’s Venus or of Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo or a masterpiece by Titian?

I believe that the Uffizi Gallery must be put on the list of the museums you must see at least once in your lifetime, and no trip to Florence is complete without visiting this place which houses works that will make you walk through history of art.

Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Michelangelo are only some of the famous artists whose masterpieces are on display here, but it’s certainly the quantity of stunning works that will enchant any visitor. There’s no other museum like this in the whole world!
That’s why I decided to gather in this post all information about the Uffizi Gallery, in order to give you useful tips if you are going to arrange a visit or to answer some questions everybody asks himself/herself, about the history of the museums and the works you must see.

In this post you’ll find all information about booking your entrance tickets, the history of this museum which is the world’s first public museum, works you must see, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, ask me a question in the comments (at the end of the post) and I’ll answer.

The Uffizi Gallery

gli uffizi | musei Firenze

UFFIZI GALLERY: TICKETS

To visit the Uffizi Gallery in Florence you need at least one day, and to make the most of your time you’d better book your entrance ticket, in order to avoid waiting in queue and wasting precious minutes (sometimes you can wait in line for hours!) you can dedicate to admire the works of art on display.

To visit the Uffizi there are different types of tickets.
In fact, you can buy only the entrance ticket to the Uffizi Gallery, or a combined ticket, which allows you to visit the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens, too.
Obviously, if you buy a combined ticket, you don’t need to visit all these museums in the same day, but you can visit them during your holiday in Florence.
The combined ticket is valid 3 days and allows you to enter, by skipping the line, each museum on the ticket.

However, for further information you’d better read the post containing the link to book immediately your admission ticket— > Uffizi tickets: how to buy your ticket to skip the line.

UFFIZI GALLERY: HISTORY OF THE MUSEUM

The Uffizi Gallery is the world’s first public museum.
It was opened to the public in 1789 and since the beginning it has displayed great masterpieces of art, first of all those of the Medici family collection.
The building where the Uffizi Gallery is located was designed in the second half of the 16th century by Cosimo I de’ Medici, to house under one roof the offices of the Florentine magistrates and the administrative offices, but on the top floor it housed part of the family art collection.

Over the centuries the art collection has been enriched with many masterpieces, bought or commissioned directly to the most important artists of the time.
There are hundreds of works housed in the Uffizi Gallery and they themselves describe the history of Western art, with particular attention to the Renaissance period.
Obviously you can’t see everything with the same attention, but there are some works of art you must admire in order not to exit the museum regretting not having admired the greatest masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery. 

UFFIZI GALLERY: WORKS

The Uffizi Gallery is one of the most famous museums in the world, and the first time I entered there I believed that I would never be able to see everything, and I think that almost everybody exit the museum with the will to come back.
If you have already visited the Uffizi Gallery, when you exited, you probably had the feeling that you should have admired more carefully some works you probably only glimpsed, because you had noticed a masterpiece even more important in the next room. When making a list of works you can’t miss at the Uffizi Gallery some masterpieces are unavoidably left out, so it’s almost a mission impossible.
However, I made a list of what, in my opinion, you can’t miss and you’ll find it in the post The Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

The Uffizi Gallery houses so many works that you can visit it, for example, by following different types of itineraries.
You can search for works of a specific historic period, or a specific artist, or you can enter the museum and decide to stop only in front of some masterpieces to find out all their details and history.
For example, I wrote some special posts dedicated to some works on display at the Uffizi Gallery which might inspire you an alternative tour.

UFFIZI GALLERY: IN- DEPTH ANALYSIS OF THE WORKS

  • Meaning of Botticelli’s Primavera: description, characters it’s probably the most famous work on exhibition in the Uffizi Gallery.
    Beautiful and mysterious, it was probably Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, cousin of Lorenzo il Magnifico, to commission Botticelli to paint it. The meaning of the composition hasn’t been completely deciphered by scholars yet, but its perfect details enchant all visitors who stop in front of this masterpiece for a long time.
  • A masterpiece by Botticelli: the Calumny of Apelles – it’s a small masterpiece painted by Sandro Botticelli placed next to the “Primavera”. It always runs the risk of passing unnoticed, but as soon as you discover which meanings and message it conveys you can’t help but looking at it.
  • Botticelli’s Birth of Venus – Another great masterpiece by Botticelli housed at the Uffizi Gallery is the “Birth of Venus”, which draws inspiration form literature, creating one of the greatest masterpieces housed in Florence.
  • Medusa by Caravaggio “Medusa” by Caravaggio is probably one of the most fascinating works on display in the Uffizi Gallery. Painted on a convex panel, which simulates a shield, has always remained in Florence and still today astonishes visitors with its dreadful gaze.
  • The Venus of Urbino – the other Venus of the Uffizi Gallery, after Botticelli’s Venus, is the Venus of Urbino painted by Titian and which is the most sensual painting made by the Venetian artist.
  • The Doni Tondo by Michelangelo  the only painting on mobile support, which, with absolute certainty, was painted by Michelangelo, is housed in the Uffizi Gallery and is the well-known Doni Tondo. It has been assumed that also the frame was carved following a drawing made by Michelangelo himself, and only for this reason it is a masterpiece you can’t miss.
  • Self-Portrait by Raphael – the famous Self-Portrait by Raphael is part of the Uffizi Gallery collection of masterpieces. For centuries it has inspired artists and creative talents, including Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres.

If you want to find out all about the masterpieces I have just listed to you and want to know what other works you need to see in the Uffizi, I suggest you read the post The Uffizi Gallery works: the unmissable masterpieces

Tondo Doni | Michelangelo

The Tondo Doni by Michelangelo

READ ALSO – Things to see in Florence

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2 thoughts on “The Uffizi Gallery: works, tickets, history and everything you should know

    • Questa è una domanda veramente difficile perché gli Uffizi ormai non hanno una stagionalità negli ingressi.
      Forse però da Settembre a Dicembre c’è un afflusso meno intenso e anche da fine gennaio a marzo.

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