Director Simone Verde on the future of the Uffizi
The Galleries as a national and international example for museology studies
Speaking to the international press, Director Simone Verde outlined the guidelines for the coming years, highlighting the desire to make the Uffizi Galleries a national and international reference point. "The objective is to make the Uffizi the central pole of the entire national system of museums because the Uffizi are its natural point of reference".
The Director reiterated his intention to create a research centre for museum studies in the "Casino del Cavaliere" in the Boboli Gardens, involving leading international scholars. A section devoted to the history of the collections will be created on the ground floor of the Uffizi, and in the White Room of the Pitti Palace. Also at the Pitti Palace, the storerooms will be opened to the public in order to show, for the first time in the museum's history, the Reggia's holdings of historic furniture and tapestries, while a section will retrace the history of Boboli. A key intervention planned is also the re-equipping of the Grand Dukes' Treasure.
On 31 July at the Uffizi the rooms of the Flemish painters will reopened together with the recontructed "Ricetto delle Iscrizioni" room, while by the end of the year, the reorganisation of the entire second floor of the Uffizi will be completed, which has already been underway for a few weeks and will follow a dual chronological and thematic criterion.
On 16 July the Museum of Costume and Fashion will be officially inaugurated, at the Pitti Palace, after having been reopened last December at the end of a complex restoration that lasted three years.
The Uffizi Galleries therefore play a leading role, not only on a scientific level, but also in terms of public use and reception. The 'dematerialised' ticket has recently been introduced, to facilitate the management of long queues at the ticket office (which within a couple of years will be moved to the back of the Uffizi, in Piazza del Grano, following a project by architects Guicciardini and Magni). The opening of the Boboli Gardens has been extended to Mondays, and the evening opening of the Uffizi on Tuesdays has been introduced. Work is currently in progress on lighting systems and seating for visitors' refreshments.
For kids an ad hoc 'museum' will soon be dedicated, with works placed at their eye level, on the ground floor of the Uffizi, with the support of the Friends of the Uffizi Gallery.
Finally, Director Verde announces that by autumn, a first section of the Vasari Corridor will be opened, waiting for the end of 2024 to return to full reopening.
