posted by Lourdes Flores on News

Starting tomorrow, July 14th, visitors to the Uffizi Gallery will find Hall 9 dedicated to the Pollaiolo brothers, Antonio and Piero, and to Sandro Botticelli, in the Uffizi Gallery will be closed to the public.

The Renaissance master’s most famous works have been temporarily moved to the large
Hall 41, accessed from the Third Corridor, which used to house Rubens’s monumental
canvases. The room has been restored and upgraded to current museum standards thanks
to a generous donation from the non-profit foundation Friends of Florence. The
foundation’s major contribution is also making it possible to dismantle and refurbish the
Botticelli Room (10-14) that is scheduled to reopen in 2016.

Antonio Natali, director of the Uffizi, said “Botticelli’s masterpieces are the most widely viewed paintings in the entire collection, and so, in order not to deprive visitors of the opportunity to see them, we worked night and day here in the Uffizi to set up another room to host them during the remodeling work. Ultimately, I believe that their new home will offer an even more vibrant view of Botticelli’s paintings”.

The closing will make it possible to proceed with the “Nuovi Uffizi” – New Uffizi – project which, in addition to indispensable system renovations, will involve a new arrangement of the rooms and a striking display of Botticelli’s paintings.

THE TEMPORARY SETTING

Room 41 will temporarily host a carefully selected group of paintings by Sandro Botticelli. The Madonna of the Magnificat and The Madonna of the Pomegranate will be on the entrance wall; The Adoration of the Magi, The Primavera (Allegory of Spring), and The Calumny of Apelles will be on one of the side walls, and The Madonna and Child with Saints , The Birth of Venus and Pallas and the Centaur will be on the other. On the wall facing the entrance, the Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder and Judith and Holofernes will flank the monumental Portinari Triptych by Hugo van der Goes which will be the fulcrum of a section entirely dedicated to fifteenth-century Northern European paintings when the reorganization of the museum is completed.

The new rooms highlight aspects of the paintings which could not be fully appreciated up until now with the the new lighting and added space in between. Visitors who have previously visited the museum will be able to view Botticelli’s masterpieces in a new light, literally speaking.

Works from the Pollaiolo brothers will be divided – some have gone into Hall 8 while others have been moved to the ground floor, to San Pier Scheraggio, which is usually closed but will be open for guided visits on Thursdays and Saturdays throughout the summer for free.

You can view the moving of Botticelli’s main works which occurred last night in the museum to the new hall in the video below and a preview of what Hall 41 looks like!