The Uffizi
A new series of International Sign Language videos to discover the Uffizi's masterpieces from home or at the museum with your mobile device
Mary, holding Jesus in her arms, is seated on a throne, like a queen. This is the iconography that gives rise to the title “Maestà” or “Majesty”, used to refer to this and other paintings with similar subjects.
At the end of a long journey, the Magi arrive before the newly born Messiah, guided by a star, and they kneel before the Holy Family, offering their precious gifts
Originally painted for the Sant’Ambrogio Church in Florence, the altarpiece was commissioned by Nofri Del Brutto Buonamici, from a family of weavers who was very devoted to the Virgin
One of the most celebrated portraits of the Italian Renaissance, the diptych features the Duke of Urbino, Federico da Montefeltro (1422-1482) and his wife Battista Sforza (1446-1472).
This panel is part of a cycle of three paintings that celebrate the victory of the Florentine forces over the Sienese troops and the alliance guided by the Duke of Milan at the battle of San Romano (Pisa) in 1432.
Originating from Florence, Tommaso Portinari lived in Bruges for many years where he worked as a representative of the bank of the Medici family. He commissioned Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes to paint this Triptych to adorn the Portinari family chapel in the church of Saint Giles in the Santa Maria Nuova hospital in Florence
This painting, usually known as the Primavera [or ‘Spring’] shows nine figures from classic mythology advancing over a flowery lawn in a grove of orange and laurel trees.
The composition shows the goddess of love and beauty arriving on land, on the island of Cyprus, born of the sea spray and blown there by the winds, Zephyr and, perhaps, Aura.
The traditional religious theme has been set by Leonardo in an earthly, natural setting . A flourishing enclosed garden, in front of a Renaissance palace, evokes the hortus conclusus that alludes to the purity of Mary
Michelangelo painted this Holy Family for a Florentine merchant, Agnolo Doni, whose prestigious marriage to Maddalena Strozzi in 1504 took place in a period that was crucial for early 16th-century Florentine art.
This work was painted during Raphael’s Florentine period (1504-1508), during which he was able to study the great masters of Florence and also to work for some of the more important merchant families. In his biography of the artist, Giorgio Vasari says that the painting was commissioned for the marriage of Lorenzo Nasi with Sandra di Matteo Canigiani, celebrated on 23 February 1506.
The portrait is a manifesto of flawless elegance by Agnolo Bronzino, a court artist capable of expressing a timeless painting with an almost manic technique.
This is one of Titian’s most famous works and it depicts the emblematic figure of a young bride about to be dressed to take part in the celebration of the ritual known in Venice as “il toccamano”.
The painting was commissioned as a shield by the Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte; it was a present for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando I de' Medici.
The Tribune was realized between 1581 and 1583 by architect Bernardo Buontalenti “to keep jewels and embellishments of the Grand Duke”, Francesco I de’ Medici
Commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici, first Grand Duke of Tuscany, the building, was conceived to house the “Uffizi”, the administrative and legal offices of Florence
