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{{Short description|Art museum in Florence, Italy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox museum
| name            = Uffizi
| native_name     = {{lang|it|Galleria degli Uffizi|i=no}}
| logo            = [[File:Uffizi Gallery logo.svg|150px]]
| image           = Florence, Italy - panoramio (125).jpg
| caption         = Narrow courtyard between the two wings<br/>of the museum, with view toward the [[Arno]] river
| mapframe        = yes
| mapframe-caption = Interactive fullscreen map
| mapframe-zoom   = 15
| mapframe-marker = museum
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| mapframe-height = 180
| coordinates     = {{WikidataCoord|display=it}}
| established     = {{start date and age|1581}}
| location        = Piazzale degli Uffizi,<br />50122 [[Florence]], Italy
| type            = [[Art museum]], design/textile museum, [[historic site]]
| visitors        = 5,249,968 (2024) <ref>Le Journal des Artes, France, October 2025</ref>
| director        = [[:it:Simone Verde|Simone Verde]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uffizi.it/en/news/in-carica-il-nuovo-direttore-delle-gallerie-degli-uffizi-simone-verde/ |title=The new Director of the Uffizi Galleries, Simone Verde, takes office |date=17 January 2024 |website=uffizi.it}}</ref>
| publictransit   = 
| website         = {{official URL}}
}}
{{Art of Italy}}

The '''Uffizi Gallery''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|juː|ˈ|f|ɪ|t|s|i|,_|ʊ|ˈ|f|iː|t|s|i}} {{respell|yoo|FIT|see|,_|uu|FEET|see}};<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/uffizi|title=Uffizi|work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|access-date=10 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Uffizi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303062007/https://www.lexico.com/definition/uffizi |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 March 2020 |title=Uffizi |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> {{langx|it|'''Galleria degli Uffizi'''|italic=no}}, {{IPA|it|ɡalleˈriːa deʎʎ ufˈfittsi|pron}}) is a prominent [[art museum]] adjacent to the [[Piazza della Signoria]] in the [[Historic Centre of Florence]] in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best-known in the world and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the [[Italian Renaissance painting|Italian Renaissance]].

After the ruling [[House of Medici]] died out, their art collections were given to the city of Florence under the famous ''Patto di famiglia'' ("family pact") negotiated by [[Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici|Anna Maria Luisa]], the last Medici heiress. The Uffizi is one of the first modern museums. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, and in 1769 it was officially opened to the public, formally becoming a museum in 1865.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.florence-museum.com/uffizi-gallery-tickets.php|title=Uffizi Gallery Tickets – Museums Tickets Florence Uffizi Gallery|website=www.florence-museum.com}}</ref>

==History==
The building of the Uffizi complex was begun by [[Giorgio Vasari]] in 1560 for [[Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Cosimo I de' Medici]] as a means to consolidate his administrative control of the various committees, agencies, and guilds established in Florence's Republican past so as to accommodate them all in one place, hence the name {{lang|it|uffizi}}, "offices". The construction was later continued by [[Alfonso Parigi the Elder|Alfonso Parigi]] and [[Bernardo Buontalenti]]; it was completed in 1581. The top floor was made into a gallery for the family and their guests and included their collection of Roman sculptures.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.uffizi.com/history-uffizi-gallery.asp| title=History of Uffizi Gallery| website=www.uffizi.com| access-date=1 July 2017| archive-date=15 April 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415155729/https://www.uffizi.it/| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The ''cortile'' (internal courtyard) is so long, narrow, and open to the [[Arno]] at its far end through a [[Doric order|Doric screen]] that articulates the space without blocking it, that architectural historians<ref>[[Sigfried Giedion]], ''Space, Time and Architecture'' (1941) 1962 fig.17.</ref> treat it as the first regularized streetscape of Europe. Vasari, a painter, and architect as well, emphasized its [[perspective (visual)|perspective]] length by adorning it with the matching facades' continuous roof cornices, and unbroken cornices between storeys, as well as the three continuous steps on which the museum fronts stand. The niches in the [[Alternation of supports|piers that alternate with columns]] of the [[Loggiato degli Uffizi|Loggiato]] were filled with sculptures of famous artists in the 19th century.

The Uffizi brought together under one roof the administrative offices and the Archivio di Stato, the state archive. The project was intended to display prime artworks of the Medici collections on the [[piano nobile]]; the plan was carried out by his son, Grand Duke [[Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Francesco I]]. He commissioned the architect Buontalenti to design the [[Tribuna of the Uffizi|Tribuna degli Uffizi]] that would display a series of masterpieces in one room, including jewels; it became a highly influential attraction of a [[Grand Tour]]. The octagonal room was completed in 1584.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.virtualuffizi.com/tribune.html|title=Tribuna :: Hall n. 18 ► Virtual Uffizi|website=Virtual Uffizi Gallery}}</ref>

Over the years, more sections of the building were recruited to exhibit paintings and sculptures collected or commissioned by the [[House of Medici|Medici]]. For many years, 45 to 50 rooms were used to display paintings from the 13th to 18th century.<ref name="florence-museum.com"/>

==Modern times==
Because of its vast collection, some of the Uffizi's works have in the past been transferred to other museums in Florence—for example, some famous statues to the [[Bargello]]. A project was finished in 2006 to expand the museum's exhibition space some 6,000 metres<sup>2</sup> (64,000&nbsp;ft<sup>2</sup>) to almost 13,000 metres<sup>2</sup> (139,000&nbsp;ft<sup>2</sup>), allowing public viewing of many [[Work of art|artwork]]s that had usually been in storage.

The Nuovi Uffizi (New Uffizi) renovation project which started in 1989 was progressing well from 2015 to 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Florence tours Uffizi Gallery |url=https://italy.mytour.eu/en/search?s=uffizi |website=italy.mytour.eu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.virtualuffizi.com/new-halls.html|title=Discover the New Halls at Uffizi| website=Virtual Uffizi Gallery}}</ref> It was intended to modernize all of the halls and more than double the display space. A new exit was also planned and the lighting, air conditioning and security systems were updated. During construction, the museum remained open, although rooms were closed as necessary with the artwork temporarily moved to another location.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.uffizi.org/museum/history/|title=History| website=Uffizi Gallery| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704205233/http://www.uffizi.org/museum/history/|archive-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> For example, the Botticelli rooms and two others with early Renaissance paintings were closed for 15 months but reopened in October 2016.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.uffizi.org/2383-the-botticelli-rooms-reopen/| title=New Uffizi: The Botticelli & Early Renaissance Rooms Reopen| date=19 October 2016| publisher=Uffizi Gallery}}</ref>

Over two million people visited the Uffizi in 2016, making it the most visited art gallery in Italy.<ref name="beniculturali.it">{{cite web |title=MUSEI, TOP 30: COLOSSEO, UFFIZI E POMPEI SUPERSTAR NEL 2019 Franceschini: autonomia funziona, andiamo avanti su percorso innovazione |url=https://www.beniculturali.it/mibac/export/MiBAC/sito-MiBAC/Contenuti/visualizza_asset.html_1000300163.html |website=www.beniculturali.it |access-date=3 July 2020 |language=it}}</ref> At peak periods (particularly in July), waiting times for entry can be up to five hours. Advance tickets can be bought online, to significantly reduce the waiting time.<ref name="florence-museum.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.florence-museum.com/uffizi-gallery-tickets.php?gclid=Cj0KEQjwkN3KBRCu2fWmy9LLqN4BEiQANP9-WiEJRersqPn3481j_HwsmJ4uOR1qBGGtITSC0uYlxJYaAlsT8P8HAQ|title=Uffizi Gallery Tickets – Museums Tickets Florence Uffizi Gallery|website=www.florence-museum.com}}</ref> In 2018 a revised ticketing system was introduced to reduce queuing times to just minutes.<ref name="traveller.com.au">{{cite web|url=http://www.traveller.com.au/uffizi-gallery-florence-queuing-times-cut-from-hours-to-minutes-with-new-system-h16fkx|title=Uffizi gallery, Florence: Queuing times cut from hours to minutes with new system|first=Nick|last=Squires|date=12 October 2018}}</ref>

Due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the museum was closed for 150 days in 2020, and attendance plunged by 72 percent to 659,043.  Nonetheless the Uffizi was 27th in the [[list of most-visited art museums]] in the world in 2020.<ref>''The Art Newspaper'', 30 March 2021</ref> Works from the Uffizi gallery collection are now available for remote viewing on Google Arts and Culture.<ref>{{Cite web|author=Maxim Staff|title=Google Now Offering Virtual Tours of Over 1,200 Iconic Museums|url=https://www.maxim.com/travel/google-offers-virtual-tours-of-museums-2020-3|access-date=27 January 2021|website=Maxim|date=20 March 2020 |language=en-us}}</ref> The museum reopened in May 2021 following a renovation that included an addition of 14 new rooms and a display of additional 129 artworks, with the museum attempting to give more voice to historically under-represented groups including women and people of color.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Julia Buckley |title=One of Italy's most famous sites just reopened with a striking change |url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/uffizi-refurbishment-female-artists/index.html |access-date=17 November 2022 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

==Incidents==
On 27 May 1993, the [[Sicilian Mafia]] carried out a [[car bomb]] explosion in [[Via dei Georgofili bombing|Via dei Georgofili]] which damaged parts of the palace and killed five people. The blast destroyed five pieces of art and damaged another 30. Some of the paintings were fully protected by bulletproof glass.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/28/world/bomb-outside-uffizi-in-florence-kills-6-and-damages-many-works.html| title=Bomb Outside Uffizi in Florence Kills 6 and Damages Many Works| first=Alan| last=Cowell| date=28 May 1993| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The most severe damage was to the [[Niobe]] room and classical sculptures and [[Neoclassicism|neoclassical]] interior, which have since been restored, although its [[fresco]]es were damaged beyond repair.

On 22 July 2022, members of the climate activist group [[Ultima Generazione]] (Last Generation) glued themselves to the glass protecting [[Sandro Botticelli]]'s ''[[Primavera (painting)|Primavera]]'' demanding an end to fossil fuel usage. The painting was undamaged.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/22/climate-activists-in-italy-glue-themselves-to-botticelli-painting | title=Climate activists in Italy glue themselves to Botticelli painting | first=Damien | last=Gayle | date=22 July 2022| newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

On 13 February 2024, members of Ultima Generazione glued images of flooding in [[Tuscany]] in 2023 to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli's ''[[Birth of Venus]]'' in protest over the Italian government's inaction on climate change. The painting was undamaged and the images were removed.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/uffizi-climate-activists-protests-botticelli-birth-of-venus-1151a19a1af4e8adbdbf5744c233c7a2 |title=Climate activists target Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’ in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery |date=13 February 2024 |work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

==Key works==
{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|
* [[Cimabue]]: ''[[Santa Trinita Maestà]]''
* [[Duccio]]: ''[[Rucellai Madonna]]''
* [[Giotto]]: ''[[Ognissanti Madonna]]'', ''[[Badia Polyptych]]''
* [[Simone Martini]]: ''[[Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus]]''
* [[Ambrogio Lorenzetti]]: ''[[Presentation at the Temple (Ambrogio Lorenzetti)|Presentation at the Temple]]''
* [[Gentile da Fabriano]], ''[[Adoration of the Magi (Gentile da Fabriano)|Adoration of the Magi]]''
* [[Paolo Uccello]]: ''[[The Battle of San Romano]]''
* [[Rogier van der Weyden]]: ''[[Lamentation of Christ (Rogier van der Weyden)|Lamentation of Christ]]''
* [[Filippo Lippi|Fra Filippo Lippi]]: ''[[Madonna and Child (Filippo Lippi)|Madonna and Child]]'', ''[[Coronation of the Virgin (Filippo Lippi)|Coronation of the Virgin]]''
* [[Piero della Francesca]]: ''Diptych of Duke [[Federico da Montefeltro]] and Duchess Battista [[Sforza]] of [[Urbino]]''
* [[Andrea del Verrocchio]]: ''[[The Baptism of Christ (Verrocchio)|The Baptism of Christ]]''
* [[Hugo van der Goes]]: ''[[Portinari Altarpiece|Portinari Triptych]]''
* [[Sandro Botticelli]]: ''[[Primavera (Botticelli)|Primavera]]'', ''[[The Birth of Venus]]'', ''[[Adoration of the Magi (Botticelli, 1475)|Adoration of the Magi of 1475]]'' and others
* [[Michelangelo]]: ''[[Doni Tondo|The Holy Family (Doni Tondo)]]''
* [[Leonardo da Vinci]]: ''[[Annunciation (Leonardo)|The Annunciation]]'', ''[[Adoration of the Magi (Leonardo)|Adoration of the Magi]]''
* [[Piero di Cosimo]]: ''[[Perseus Freeing Andromeda]]''
* [[Albrecht Dürer]]: ''[[Adoration of the Magi (Dürer)|Adoration of the Magi]]''
* [[Raphael]]: ''[[Madonna del cardellino|Madonna of the Goldfinch]]'', ''[[Portrait of Leo X (Raphael)|Portrait of Leo X]]''
* [[Titian]]: ''[[Flora (Titian)|Flora]]'', ''[[Venus of Urbino]]''
* [[Parmigianino]]: ''[[Madonna with the Long Neck]]''
* [[Caravaggio]]: ''[[Bacchus (Caravaggio)|Bacchus]]'', ''[[Sacrifice of Isaac (Caravaggio)|Sacrifice of Isaac]]'', ''[[Medusa (Caravaggio)|Medusa]]''
* [[Artemisia Gentileschi]]: ''[[Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi, Florence)|Judith and Holofernes]]''
* [[Rembrandt]]: ''[['Tronie' of a Young Man with Gorget and Beret|Self-portrait as a Young Man]]'' (attribution doubtful), ''Self-portrait as an Old Man'', ''Portrait of an Old Man''
}}

The collection also contains some ancient sculptures, such as the ''[[Arrotino]]'', the ''[[Wrestlers (sculpture)|Two Wrestlers]]'', ''[[Venus de' Medici]]'', and the ''[[Bust of Severus Giovanni]]''.

== Films==
* [[Inside the Uffizi]]. It, De, USA, 2021, 97 min.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://uffizien.piffl-medien.de/|title=IN DEN UFFIZIEN &#124; EIN FILM VON CORINNA BELZ UND ENRIQUE SÁNCHEZ LANSCH &#124; Offizielle Website &#124; Im Kino ab 25. November 2021|website=uffizien.piffl-medien.de}}</ref> (documentary by Corinna Belz and Enrique Sánchez Lansch)

==Gallery==
{{gallery
|width=155
|height=155
|mode=packed
|File:Canaletto - Veduta del Palazzo Ducale di Venezia - Google Art Project.jpg|Canaletto, ''Veduta del Palazzo Ducale di Venezia''
|File:Sandro Botticelli - La nascita di Venere - Google Art Project - edited.jpg|[[Sandro Botticelli]], ''[[The Birth of Venus]]''
|File:Caravaggio - Sacrificio di Isacco - Google Art Project.jpg|Caravaggio, ''Sacrificio di Isacco''
|File:Tribuna uffizi.jpg|[[Tribuna of the Uffizi]]
|File:Caravaggio - Medusa - Google Art Project.jpg|Caravaggio, ''Medusa''
|File:Judit decapitando a Holofernes, por Artemisia Gentileschi.jpg|Artemisia Gentileschi, ''Judith Beheading Holofernes''
|File:Giotto, 1267 Around-1337 - Maestà - Google Art Project.jpg|Giotto, ''[[Ognissanti Madonna]]''
|File:Tondo Doni, por Miguel Ángel.jpg|Michelangelo, ''[[Doni Tondo]]''
|File:Parmigianino - Madonna dal collo lungo - Google Art Project.jpg|Parmigianino, ''The Madonna with the Long Neck''
|File:Albrecht Dürer - Adorazione dei Magi - Google Art Project.jpg|Albrecht Dürer, ''Adorazione dei Magi''
|File:Raffaello Sanzio - Madonna del Cardellino - Google Art Project.jpg|Raphael, ''[[Madonna of the Goldfinch]]''
|File:Tiziano - Venere di Urbino - Google Art Project.jpg|Titian, ''[[Venus of Urbino]]''
|File:Leonardo da Vinci - Annunciazione - Google Art Project.jpg|Leonardo da Vinci, ''Annunciation''
|File:Uffizi Gallery - Daughter of Niobe bent by terror.jpg|Restored Niobe room represents Roman copies of late [[Hellenistic art]]. View of daughter of [[Niobe]] bent by terror.
|File:Uffizi Gallery hallway.JPG|View of hallway, the walls were originally covered with tapestries.
|File:Statues in Niches Outside the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.jpg|[[Cosimo de' Medici]] by Luigi Magi and ''Andrea Di Cione'' ([[Orcagna]]) by Niccolò Bazzanti
}}

==See also==
* [[List of most-visited art museums]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website}}
*[https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/uffizi-gallery?hl=en Virtual tour of the Uffizi] provided by [[Google Arts & Culture]]

{{Florence landmarks}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Uffizi| ]]
[[Category:1580s establishments in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]
[[Category:1581 establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:1765 establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:1765 in art]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries established in the 1760s]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Florence]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1581]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1765]]
[[Category:Collection of the Uffizi|*]]
[[Category:Educational organizations established in 1765]]
[[Category:National museums of Italy]]
[[Category:Palaces in Florence]]
[[Category:Renaissance architecture in Florence]]