Fifty million euros of interventions to give a new face to the Uffizi Galleries

“After two years of planning and administrative processes – explains director Simone Verde – construction sites on the Uffizi complex costing around 50 million euros have finally started or are now starting; all this was made possible thanks to the great commitment made by the Galleries’ staff”. The extensive network of interventions was in fact presented today for the first time collegially by the staff of museum officials, introduced by the director Verde himself.

Among these, it is worth mentioning the strong increase in equipment dedicated to conservative safety, in particular with regards to air treatment systems. Then there are restoration works on important artefacts or monumental environments, as in the case of the Boboli Amphitheater and spaces, also in the Garden, such as the Fountain of Neptune and the Island; the museumisation of places unknown to most people, such as the top floor of Palazzo Pitti, known as the ‘Piano degli Occhi’, which for approximately 1,000 square meters will be transformed into an exhibition area. Substantial works also concern the Medici Treasure on the ground floor of the Palace; the Palatine Gallery, with numerous restored rooms and whose lighting will be totally renewed; still other works, in this case at the Uffizi, will lead to the promised realization of the introductory section of the History of Collections, of the new entrance to the Monumental Hall for the reception of visitors (overlooking Piazza del Grano), whose construction works will start in a few months (but whose tender has already been closed and the construction site handed over to the winning company). Meanwhile, still at the Uffizi, the progressive rethinking of the spaces from a museographic point of view at the Uffizi Gallery continues: soon on the second floor the Flemish rooms will have a new layout and lighting, and the room with the portraits of the Illustrious Men by Andrea del Castagno and the container of the ancient inscriptions will be opened. The renovation of the entire didactic apparatus of the museum and of the signage of the complex has also begun; finally, it should be remembered, as regards the plant heritage of Boboli, that in the last two years over 2600 new plantings have been carried out in various areas of the park (over a thousand more if those of 2024 are also taken into consideration). And all this, it is worth remembering, represents only part of the work currently underway in the Galleries. “We believe – concludes Verde – that thanks to this series of unprecedented interventions of extraordinary breadth and depth, the Uffizi will offer the world an even better face than what it offers today and above all will be increasingly capable of representing one of the fundamental icons of our nation in the eyes of the world”.