Uffizi Galleries: "Future in the Ancient"

The museum's reorganization, the reassembly of collections, the recovery of the most famous historic spaces, and the acquisition of masterpieces to make the Uffizi collection ever more complete and prestigious: these are the first guidelines of the new direction of the Galleries led by Simone Verde.

This is evidenced on July 31 – in the presence of the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano – by a double inauguration: new spaces and the presentation of an important purchase made by Director Simone Verde at the great Maastricht antique fair, TEFAF.

The new rooms, dedicated to Flemish painting of the 15th and 16th centuries, featuring masterpieces by Dürer, Cranach, Memling, and Froment, and the Cabinet of Marbles, a faithful reconstruction of a famous room dedicated to the Medici collection of Roman sculptures and reliefs, made unique by the ancient reliefs embedded in the walls are now open to visitors on the second floor.

Also a new acquisition destined to become a highlight in the rooms dedicated to 18th-century painting will be presented: The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine, a large oil on canvas by the French master Pierre Subleyras.

Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano: “Article 9 of the Constitution mandates us to protect, but above all to enhance, Italy’s cultural heritage, and all our efforts are directed in this way. On one hand, we are trying to make Italian museums more accessible by increasing visiting opportunities and promoting modernization; on the other, we are working on improving the offering to add further value to places that already have enormous historical value and that represent the geographic identity of the Nation. Today's inaugurations and the entry of a new masterpiece into the prestigious Uffizi collection show that with ideas and commitment, it is possible to make even more precious a jewel that the whole world envies us.
The choice of the name Future in the antique is in line. It summarizes the recognition of the value of history, tradition and identity.
It is by looking to our noble past that we can build the future. Through initiatives such as today’s, we are achieving a new goal in the process aimed at raising the offer and quality of Italian museums.

In almost two years we opened new museums, renovated and relaunched others, and increased the collections. The numbers say it all: in 2023 visitors, about 22 %, and receipts, about 33 %, have grown.

Today marks an acceleration of the project Mundi, Museo Nazionale della lingua italiana."

Director of the Uffizi Galleries, Simone Verde: “Today marks the realization of the first three chapters of the announced reassembly of the Uffizi Galleries' heritage: the return to the public of Flemish painting, where it was placed in the Lorraine era; the monumental Cabinet of Ancient Marbles, as it appeared to visitors in the 19th century; and finally, the acquisition of the large painting by the French master of 18th-century painting Pierre Subleyras, filling a gap in the historical painting itinerary of the Gallery, as conceived by Luigi Lanzi. With this operation, the grand return to the future of the Uffizi begins: with roots firmly planted in the history of the first great Western museum, a universal model, but today dynamically looking forward to confirm itself as a laboratory of global museology.”