Documentation of the damage from the 1993 bombing in Via dei Georgofili

An explosion ripped through the night in Florence between the 26th and 27th of May 1993 at 1.04 a.m.

The Torre dei Pulci, the centuries-old seat of the Accademia dei Georgofili and adjacent to the Uffizi's Vasari factory, was destroyed; significant damage was done to the western side of the Uffizi and the Vasari Corridor as well as to the Church of Santo Stefano al Ponte, but most importantly, the bodies of five people were found under the rubble: the Nencioni family (Fabrizio, Angela and their two daughters, Caterina and Nadia) and the student Dario Capolicchio.

Firefighters and investigators quickly realised that it was an intentional act. A car filled with TNT was left parked in Via dei Georgofili on the evening of 26th May; its intimidating nature became evident, and the attack entered the list of mafia massacres of those years.

Only by chance were the staff on duty that night at the Uffizi not directly involved, but they had to face the disarming spectacle of rubble, shattered glass, and, unfortunately, almost completely lost works: 173 paintings and 56 sculptures were damaged.

A group of photographs preserved in the Uffizi Photographic Department and taken by the in-house staff on duty at the time testifies to those dramatic moments: the huge crater in Via dei Georgofili, the destruction of Via Lambertesca; the damage to the beginning of the Vasari Corridor, the Sala della Niobe and the Corridoio di Ponente on the second floor of the gallery; the paintings destroyed; the police and fire brigade in action; the first interventions.