Monday Free Openings at Florence’s Major Museums

 

The Uffizi Gallery is accessible free of charge on Monday, November 4, a day that the museum is normally closed, in celebration of Armed Forces Day (formerly a national holiday). The museum can be visited from 8:15 am to 6:30 pm, with the last entrance at 5:30 pm.  Other major Florence sites exceptionally open this Monday at no charge include the Bargello National Museum (8:15 am- 1:50 pm); the Academy Gallery and the Medici Chapels (8:15 am – 6:50 pm); the Archeological Museum (8:30 am – 2 pm); and the Museum of San Marco with its frescoes by Beato Angelico (8:15 am – 6 pm).

In addition to the regular collection, the Uffizi will showcase art pieces on the refurbished top floor.  Exhibits include ancient marble sculptures, paintings by Flemish artists, and the new spaces dedicated to Andrea del Sarto, the Florentine master from the early 16th century, as well as Fra Bartolomeo and other Florentine painters from the first two decades of the sixteenth century. 

The rooms with these paintings are located at the end of the top floor, concluding the chronological narrative of historical painting. Andrea del Sarto and Fra Bartolomeo were key figures in the mature phase of the Renaissance, which is why each has a space dedicated to their works. As curator of the new layout Anna Bisceglia says: ‘‘We highlighted how Fra Bartolomeo, in the early years of the century, gave a more monumental and classical dimension to prior painting traditions, and how Andrea del Sarto drew inspiration from Fra Bartolomeo as well as from Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo, achieving perfect and balanced painting.” 

The displayed artists are regarded true masters, since their works became fundamental to the history of art. Visitors can view the masterpieces this Monday at the Uffizi Gallery free of charge.  (Paulina Juzak)