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Link to overview of Florence pages Artists of the Italian Renaissance The Vasari Corridor (and Uffizi) Bookings for tours of the Vasari Corridor: +39 055 265 4321 Link to page on the Medici Family |
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The building of the Uffizi ordered by Cosimo I (de' Medici) and supervised by Giorgio Vasari was commenced in 1560. The idea was to get the thirteen Guilds and Magistrates who administered the City under one roof - or more exactly in closer proximity to Cosimo so he could control them better. As a collateral benefit the Medicis were to get the top floor for their art, theatre, etc. without paying anything.
At the same time Cosimo's wealthy wife, Eleanor of Toledo, had bought and was extending the Pitti Palace on the other side of the Arno. So, in 1565, well before the Uffizi had been completed, Vasari was also set to work building his "corridor" - a collection of linked galleries between the Palazzos Pitti and Vecchio which lent a new meaning to the phrase "journey to work" for Cosimo ... no more bodyguards or mixing with the masses, and plenty of opportunity to secretly spy on the activities of his subjects - a control freak's paradise!
Tours of the Corridor were restarted in 2000 after many years of repairs following a Mafia bomb attack in 1993. Tours must be booked in advance - phone 055 265 4321. The tours start in the Palazzo Vecchio, and move up through the Hall of 500 and some of the Medici's private apartments, and then through the East Corridor of the present Uffizi Gallery to the Vasari Corridor proper, which is lined with hundreds of artist self portraits from the Uffizi collection. |
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View down the East Corridor of the Uffizi to the Palazzo Vecchio, with the Duomo in the background. |
Giorgio Vasari (1512-1574) (Self Portrait c1567)) Architect, Artist, Writer, Renaissance Man |
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Above: Vasari's "Hall of 500" in the Palazzo Vecchio
Above Right: Eleonora's Chapel in the private apartment section of the Palazzo Vecchio
Right: A novel form of target practice captured on one of the Grotesque ceilings decorating the East Corridor of the Uffizi Gallery - also part of the Vasari Corridor |
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The "Vasari Corridor" gallery over the Arno is located directly under the terracotta tiled roof |
On the North bank of the Arno, the Corridor runs on top of the arches shown on the left |
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| The Ponte Vecchio Bridge crossing outside (in 1975) and inside (in 2000) (see some of the self-portraits) | |
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Views from the Bridge Corridor and (below) access from the Corridor to the private "Medici Box" in the Santa Felicita Church |
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This self portrait by Raphael (1483 - 1520) is in the main Ufizzi Gallery.
LINK to other portraits (some self) of Raphael
LINK to other self portraits in the Uffizi collection. |
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Links to other Paradoxplace pages
All original material on this site © Adrian Fletcher 2000-08 - The contents may not be hotlinked, or reproduced without permission |
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