Uffizi & Dining: Two for the Price of One on January 31

Raphael’s famous portraits of Angolo Doni and his wife Maddalena Strozzi are part of the Uffizi collection, and on Friday, January 31, their 517th wedding anniversary, the gallery is offering two tickets for the price of one to couples who wish to tour the museum that day. The name of this special initiative, “Festa dei Doni” (Festival of the Gifts), is also a play on last name of the historic pair depicted in the portraits.

To admire the masterpieces of the Uffizi will cost €6 per person for a couple instead of €12 at the ticket office all day, so entrance.  The museum will open at 8:15 am and remain accessible until 9 pm, past the usual 6:50 pm closing time just for the event.

Additionally, The Golden View Restaurant (via dei Bardi 58r near Ponte Vecchio) will be offering a 50% off discount on the à la carte menu to couples who come to the restaurant with an Uffizi ticket valid during the “Festa dei Doni,” January 31, between the hours of noon to midnight to celebrate their relationship.

Back at the Uffizi, the “Festa dei Doni” will also offer continuous music and dance performances accessible to all guests as well as free guided visits at 11 am and noon.  The great success of the first edition in 2019 was the impetus for the Uffizi Gallery to involve the public once again in festivities to mark the anniversary of the marriage of Angolo and Maddalena in 2020, said Uffizi director Eike Schmidt.

Agnolo Doni, a merchant who specialized in exporting textiles throughout Europe allied himself with the powerful Medici family by marrying Maddalena Strozzi, and their 1504 wedding and reception was a costly and sumptuous affair.  Husband and wife also commissioned the Doni Tondo, a painting of the Holy Family — Mary, Joseph and the child Jesus — to Michelangelo in the early 1500s.  This round panel is also displayed at the Uffizi.  (rosanna cirigliano/additional reporting by kaitlyn bross)