Following decades of delays, dating since the 1960s, the Uffizi Gallery is finally undergoing an expansion. The gallery, which is home to one of the greatest art collections in the world, will stay open during the construction activity. The aim is to keep the artworks and visitors as little affected as possible, with workmen, equipment and a crane shielded from view behind a screen. The expansion will double the building's 6,000 square metres of display space to 12,000, enabling hundreds of works, currently in storage, to be displayed. More than 2,000 art works will be displayed compared to 1,200 at present. The Uffizi will also be able to double the number of visitors admitted daily, from 4,000 to 8,000.
The work will be carried out in three phases, with the first phase to last around four and a half years. The work during this phase will focus on the first floor being converted into an exhibition space, the ground floor being changed to offices and a photo archive, and the construction of one of two new stairwells. The gallery's electrical and plumbing systems will also be updated, roof repairs will be tackled and the facade will be cleaned up. The second phase, and apparently the most controversial, will last two years and will feature a loggia designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki. Plans for the final stage are still being completed but are expected to take until 2013 to complete.
The Uffizi, as you likely know, is one of the most famous museums of paintings and sculpture in the world. It has an amazing collection of Primitive and Renaissance masterpieces from some of the most acclaimed artists of all time, including Giotto, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio. Of particular note are Botticelli's Primavera and The Birth of Venus. There is also a good representation of German, Dutch and Flemish masters such as Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens. A great site to visit to see all of the artwork online and get background information on all of the artists is Virtual Uffizi.
It occupies the top floor of a large U-shaped building built between 1560 and 1580 by Giorgio Vasari to house the administrative offices (or uffici in Italian, hence Uffizi) of the Tuscan State. The Gallery was created by Grand-duke Francesco I and subsequently enriched by various members of the Medici family, who were great collectors of paintings, sculpture and works of art. The collection was rearranged and enlarged by the Lorraine Grand-dukes, who succeeded the Medici, and finally by the Italian State.
For more information about the Uffizi, click here.
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