Terre degli Uffizi

Tuscan Tournaments. The Saracen Joust, the Crossbow Palio and the Game of the Bridge

The history of fashion from the 18th century to the 2000s illustrated by captivating glimpses in an interplay between art and the historical environment of the Museum

The history of fashion, haute couture, the evolution of taste and costume through the centuries

Between public and private court life: a Palace for three dynasties

Pitti Palace

The Museum of Costume and Fashion (formerly known as the Costume Gallery) is located in the Palazzina della Meridiana next to the southern wing of Pitti Palace. Started under Grand Duke of Tuscany Peter Leopold by architect Gaspero Maria Paoletti in 1776 and completed in 1830 by Pasquale Poccianti under Grand Duke Leopold II, the building takes its name from the astronomical instrument made by Vincenzo Viviani in 1699. The instrument is in the vestibule &ndash; with the gnomon pinhole &ndash; of Grand Prince Ferdinando de&rsquo; Medici&rsquo;s apartment. Anton Domenico Gabbiani depicted the Allegory of Time and the Arts (1693) in the vault of the vestibule. All the successive dynasties, from the Habsburg-Lorraine family to the House of Savoy, including the regency of Maria Luisa of Parma and the brief reign of Elisa Baciocchi, left their mark on furnishings and decorative wall paintings. Founded in 1983, it was the first State museum in Italy dedicated to the history of fashion and its social significance. Displayed in rotation for conservation reasons, its collections include clothes, jewellery and accessories from the 18th century to today, along with a captivating group of stage costumes worn by movie, theatre and opera stars in works helmed by reknowned 20th-century directors. Among ancient garments, the 16th-century funeral clothes of Cosimo I de&rsquo; Medici, Eleanor of Toledo and their son Garzia de&rsquo; Medici have been completely restored and are part of the permanent collection on display.

Museum of Costume and Fashion

The new arrangement of the Museum of Costume and Fashion 

On display at the Uffizi the faces of artists selected from the Department of Prints and Drawings

The Collection of Master Drawers. The Hotbed of Invention

An encounter with great Western art: an everlasting wonder

The Uffizi

Department of Prints and Drawings

Located on the first floor of the Gallery of the Statues and Paintings of the Uffizi, the Department of Prints and Drawings occupies one of the stately spaces which housed the Theater built in the second half of sixteenth century by Bernardo Buontalenti under the Medici family&rsquo;s rule. Between 1952 and 1960 a series of important maintenance works to systematically restore the interior was entrusted to Florentine architect Edoardo Detti (1913-1984), a leading advocate of the Italian Rationalism movement who worked according to the most avant-garde museographic criteria. More recently a new Study Room with over 30 equipped workstations has been installed, designed to offer the many Italian and foreign students who visit the Galleries an atmosphere which is more conducive to research. The Institute houses one of the most important collections of images in the world. Composed of over 177,000 drawings and prints, the collection was started around the mid-seventeenth century by Cardinal Leopoldo de&rsquo; Medici and continues to grow thanks to direct acquisitions and donations. Its huge paper archive dates from the end of the fourteenth century to present day, with a predominance of works from the Italian Renaissance and Tuscan seventeenth century Tuscany. As well as offering academics and researchers access to a photograph gallery and a specialist library, the Department also curates periodic exhibitions and restores its own assets in a highly specialized laboratory.
Browse here <a href="https://euploos.uffizi.it/">Euploos </a>digital catalogue project.

Drawing

Self-portrait

Self-portraits on paper by 19th-century Masters

The Newsletter of the Uffizi Galleries

All the initiatives put forward by the Uffizi Galleries on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September 2019

The Medici’s collections of paintings on display with a vast array of sumptuous frames, furnishings, stuccoes, silks and Baroque frescoes

Palatine Gallery

The Palatine Gallery and Royal and Imperial Apartments occupy the entire first floor of Pitti Palace, which was the residence of the Medici dynasty, then of Habsburg-Lorraine one and lastly of the House of Savoy, hosting the King of Italy from 1865&nbsp;to 1919. The lavish Gallery was founded between the end of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th century by the Habsburg-Lorraine family, who hung about 500 masterpieces in the ceremonial rooms chosen from the main Medici&rsquo;s collections. It is an impressive selection, which includes the largest concentration of paintings by Raphael in the world of, as well as invaluable works by Titian, Tintoretto, Caravaggio and Rubens. The paintings in their lavish frames entirely cover the walls of the rooms which are enriched by sculptures, vases and tables with semi-precious stone inlays, typical of 17th-century galleries.&nbsp;The sensational series of frescoes by Pietro da Cortona for Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando II de&rsquo; Medici, realized between 1640 and 1647 in the &ldquo;Planet Rooms&rdquo;, adds to the unique charm of the Gallery, where every work of art is enhanced by the setting and the furnishings

Three centuries of court splendour in the private rooms of the King and Queen

The Queen’s Bedroom

The Apartments are temporarily closed for maintenance and restoration workThe Imperial and Royal Apartments occupy the fourteen ceremonial rooms on the first floor, situated in the South wing of Pitti Palace. At the beginning of the 18th century the private apartments were occupied by Grand Prince of Tuscany Ferdinando de&rsquo; Medici; then, between the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, they were renovated and altered by the Grand Dukes of Habsburg-Lorraine. From 1865 the sovereigns of the Royal House of Savoy (hence the name) lived there during the short period in which Florence was the capital of Italy, leaving the distinctive stamp of their taste on the general appearance of the Royal and Imperial Apartments, which is still visible today. Sumptuously furnished with pieces from the collections of the Medici, Habsburg-Lorraine and House of Savoy, they bear traces of the changing dynasties. The tables with semi-precious stone inlays, consoles and mirrors, furnishings and silk tapestries on the walls are in a striking mixture of styles, reflecting the daily life and taste of the different periods and inhabitants.

Imperial and Royal Apartments