Il Settecento delle Gallerie degli Uffizi. Ragioni di una mostra | The Uffizi Galleries and the Eighteenth Century. Reasons behind an Exhibition

Abstract

Waiting for the new rooms due to open in 2027/2028 the Uffizi Galleries dedicate a temporary exhibition to Eighteenth century art. A selection of 160 pieces belonging to the museum, including mostly paintings, but sculptures and applied arts as well, are displayed under the title Florence and Europe. The aim is to show how much the Grandukes managed to maintain a relevant cultural prestige in the international scene despite political and economical marginality, especially evident under the last Medici who exstinguished in 1737. Uffizi as we know today, that is a gallery open to the public, devoted to antique sculpture and paintings organised chronologically and according to regional schools which developed in this century is another main focus. Following the same concept of modernity as a key word to understand that age, other sections are dedicated to the develpoment of portraiture, to the taste for exotic themes and on the other hand for typical and pictoresque subjects, ending with a room for the Grand Tour, the birth of nowadays tourism.