The Uffizi and Beautiful Florence

The Uffizi and the Accademia are the two galleries to see, and with our limited time we had to make a choice, even knowing that missing one would mean bypassing important works we very much wanted to see. 

The Accademia has Michaelangelo's David, for instance, and specializes in famous sculpture; the Uffizi has Botticelli's Venus and specializes in famous painters. We had seen quite a few sculptures already and copies of David in the courtyard just outside the Uffizi along with Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus and Giambologna's Neptune. And in this way it was decided to concentrate on the Uffizi.  

The Uffizi was astonishing. It houses the world's most complete collection of Renaissance paintings that transformed the world. With a little review about perspective and the growth of the Renaissance style, we were able to look at the medieval and baroque periods, even being rushed through the rooms.

Sculptures line the long hallways that take you from room to room and through the different historical periods: Gothic and Byzantine, and into Reiaissance and then Florentine. Raphael, Salvi, Michaelangelo, Titian, Rembrandt, Caravaggio, Botticelli and Di Vinci, all represented with works fresh and vibrant and beautifully preserved.

The tour itself was uninteresting and I'm sorry to report the guide didn't inspire us to linger in the wonders I'm sure the Uffizi has to offer. But we did stand before Botticelli's Venus and the magnificent works of Michaelangelo and look closely at works of Rosselli and Salvi and other masters we would like to study.

With a suitable docent I am sure the Uffizi would come alive. Perhaps we will return someday to discover that.