Wonderful and terrible all at the same time - glorious art - some of the very best in the world - Stendhal-Syndrome inspiring pieces like the Botticelli's Birth of Venus and a room full of portraits of the Medici that gives me chills every time I walk through. But the interminable waits to get in are miserable, and by the time you get in you may not be in the mood to take in the world's best art anymore.

The museum is much described elsewhere on this site. I don't have much to add, except a tip. Go early. If you're like me and hate getting up at the crack of dawn you'll balk at that suggestion, but trust me. Get there by 7:00am or 7:30am. Drink a cappuccino to go (hard to get but oh-so-delicious) and eat a panino while you wait. The line won't move until the museum opens, so you'll be able to sit quietly and read if you like. And you'll be in one of the first batches to enter when it does open, chopping of an hour or more of wait time.

Tom and I take a short rest before walking to the Uffizi Gallery. I know from my December visit that visiting this museum requires some endurance. Some guidebooks say that you can cover it in two hours. Tom and I spend almost four. As you might imagine, no picture taking is allowed.

The Uffizi has, arguably, the greatest collection of Italian art in the world. It was built in the 16th century as public offices for Duke Cosimo I de' Medici. The family stored much of their vast art collection in this building. In the 18th century, the last heir of the Medici family, Anna Maria Luisa, gave the total collection to the City of Florence, and it is now permanent public property

The viewing rooms are all on the third floor. Besides the rooms full of Florentine art, all the other Italian schools are represented, as well as the Dutch, Flemish, German, and French schools. It contains works by Botticelli, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Titian, and Rubens, to name a few. It also houses a large collection of Greek, Roman, and Renaissance sculpture.

In my opinion, "don’t miss" the Giotto altarpiece in Room 2, the Florentine masters in Room 4, The Fillippo Lippi paintings in Room 8, and the Botticelli collection in rooms 10 through 14, especially "The Birth of Venus," which established a new standard for artistic expression. You may have to wait to enter the octagonal room full of incredible statuary, but it’s worth it. Room 24 holds a number of works by Da Vinci.

If you are not flagging, take in Raphael’s works in Room 26 and Titian’s "Venus of Urbino" in Room 28. Compare it with Botticelli’s version and you will begin to understand the differences between Florence and Venice. The Rubens room is 41, and the Rembrandt collection is in Room 44. Also, give yourself time to wander the hallways and enjoy both the statuary and the view out the windows of the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio.

I am obviously enthusiastic about this place, as opposed to a couple from Chicago Tom and I meet while waiting for our reservations. They are using the tickets and reservations of his brother, who cancelled at the last minute. They freely admit they are only visiting the Uffizi so they don't have to explain to their friends why they missed it. How ironic! Tom and I, and many of the other visitors, have waited years to be able to visit this incredible museum. They are here by accident. Tom runs into them later, and the man's only comment is that the place is poorly lit and dirty, a comment that breaks both of us up as we view 45 rooms of irreplaceable masterpieces.

The museum is open from 8:15am to 7:15pm. It is closed on Mondays. Entry is about 12€. MAKE RESERVATIONS.

Italian Renaissance Paintings in Uffizi - Overview

As is the case with Spanish paintings in Madrid's Prado museum, one can hardly be surprised by the fact that the strongest, most prominent point of the Uffizi is Italian art when it was at its most famous - during the Renaissance years. My first (in chronological order) tip on the Uffizi Gallery might be helpful for a first-time visitor to plan his trip to the museum so as not to miss the highlights:

Leonardo da Vinci:

The Annunciation (circa the years 1472 to 1477) and The Adoration of the Magi (1481), as well as numerous drawings and notebooks – one of the largest collections in the world.

Sandro Botticelli:

Judith and Holofernes (circa 1469), Chigi Madonna; Fortitude (1470), Adoration of the Magi (circa the year 1476), the St. Barnabas altarpiece (circa 1488), the Coronation of the Virgin (circa 1490), The Madonna of the Magnificat (circa 1485), The Madonna of the Pomegranate (circa 1487); the Primavera (circa the years 1477 to 1478), The Birth of Venus (circa 1485 – his most famous work), The Calumny of Apelles (around the year 1495), and Annunciation (1490).

Perugino:

Madonna and Saints (1493), Francesco delle Opere (1494), Pietà (about 1494 to 1495), Biagio Milanesi (1500), The Monk Baldassare (1500), Deposition (years 1505 to 1507, and Assumption (1506).

Fra Filippo Lippi:

The Coronation of the Virgin (years 1441 to 1447), The Madonna Enthroned with Saints (years 1441 to 42), The Adoration of the Child with St. Hilary (painted around the year 1455), The Adoration of the Child with St. Bernard (circa the year 1463), The Madonna, and Child with Two Angels (circa 1465).

Cimabue:

Santa Trinita Madonna - an altarpiece of Madonna and Christ Child enthroned with angels and four prophets.

Paolo Uccello:

The Battle of San Romano, painted around the year1456 – some of the panels are at the Uffizi, together with the National Gallery in London and in the Louvre in Paris.

Andrea Mantegna:

Triptych with the Adoration of the Magi, the Circumcision, and the Ascension (circa 1465); and The Madonna of the Caves (circa 1484, although the historians of art are uncertain on the subject).

Giotto di Bondone:

The Madonna in Glory (Ognissanti Madonna), usually dated as having been painted around the years 1305 to 1310 – and this is the only panel painting in the world universally accepted as Giotto's own work; there are some more works in the Uffizi that come from Giotto’s shop, but they have not necessarily been painted by Giotto himself.

Other artists from the period include: Duccio di Buoninsegna (Madonna Rucellai), Andrea del Verrocchio (Baptism of Christ, although this has been completed by Leonardo da Vinci), Piero della Francesca (Portraits ofFederico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino and of His Wife, Battista Sforza – 1465), Titian (Flora – 1515, Venus of Urbino – 1538, Francesco Maria della Rovere, and Duke of Urbino – years 1536 to 1538), and Correggio (The Sojourn in Egypt – 1520 to 1526).

The Galleria degli Uffizi holds Italy's greatest art collection; it means every visitor goes to the Uffizi first. There are three ways of getting into the gallery. First, and the worst one – you stay in the line from 30 minutes (in a rainy November day) to three hours. Second way – book in advance over the Internet, €5 or so extra (or over the phone €1.5 extra), then pickup your tickets at a separate entrance (you will spend some time in the line to get your tickets, up to 45 minutes). The best /easiest / cheapest way is to buy a ticket in another museum. We bought our tickets to the Uffizi at the Bargello museum at no extra charge and entered the Uffizi Gallery without staying in the line a minute. Giorgio Vasari designed the elongated U-shaped building in 1560 for the Duke Cosimo I offices. His son Francesco I de' Medici created an Art Gallery on the second floor of the Palazzo moving some treasures from the Palazzo Pitti. We enjoyed wonderful collection of the Roman sculptures in the first corridor. On the vaults are frescoes that depict horrible monsters, weird animals, and the history of the Medici family. The Botticelli masterpieces (Primavera, the Birth of Venus, Adoration of the Magi, Madonna della Melagrana, Coronation of the Blessed Virgin) will take your breath away. The museum’s vast collection is the Renaissance Who’s Who - Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, Pontormo, Vasari etc. You will need half a day to fully enjoy the collection (better to come one more time). Next to the last room is located the entrance to the café and to the terrace of the Gallery where you can admire the Florence cityscape.

Knowing nothing about Renaissance art, I thought perhaps it would be a better idea to take a guided tour through the Uffizzi rather than just wander along myself and try to understand what I was looking at. I do want to note that Rick Steves has a good follow-along tour in his book, but I liked hearing more of the stories and having the more interactive look at the artwork.

We booked the tour through Walking Tours of Florence, (we also booked Beautiful Views of Florence) for 45 €. The price included entrance to the museum and the guide. We chose the same guide that we’d had for the Beautiful Views tour, as she’d been very good. Plus, she was an art-history major who moved to Florence to study, so who better to take us through?

We learned the evolution of art from the Byzantine era into the Renaissance, how things changed from flat and two-dimensional to three dimensional. How artists started to notice the world around them and paint what they saw. Florentine painters especially were noticeable by the colors they used – they came from what they had around them, like flowers mixed with egg. The painters would often "sign" their art by painting in their own face.

Some interesting tidbits.
1. Botticcelli’s "The Birth of Venus" is one of the first paintings to show movement – the wind blowing Venus to shore. Plus, since painting nude female models was illegal, he used a male model for Venus, which is why she seems a bit "butch" – she has no hips and her breasts are a bit out of place. The painting was commissioned by the Medici family as a conversation starter.
2. Michelangelo’s Sacra famiglia con san Giovannino lends itself to a great story. Michelangelo never wanted to be a painter. He maintained that he was a sculptor. He was commissioned to paint the holy family by a groom who wanted to give it to his bride as a wedding present for 70 docants. Michelangelo agreed, but painted it his way – with some nudes in the background. The man, through his servent, tried to pay less than the agreed upon price because he disliked the painting. Michelangelo then told the servant that his price had gone up. The groom, now agreed to pay the original price, but Michelangelo upped the price again. He finally got 210 docants – 3x the original price because the commissioner wanted to short-change him!

The tour was excellent, well worth the price!