Wednesday, June 3

 

THE UFFIZI GALLERY REOPENS with a grand ceremony at 11:30 am after 85 days of closure caused by the Coronavirus health emergency.  The museum will be accessible to the public starting at 2 pm with strict observance of current safety protocols including social distancing.  Only half the maximum number of visitors per day–450 instead of 900–will be granted daily entrance.  New post-lockdown hours are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 2 – 6:30 pm, Saturday and Sunday 9 am – 6:30 pm, closed Monday.

The Uffizi had closed only three other times in its recent history: during World War II; after the great Florence flood of 1966; and in the wake of the 1993 bomb blast on nearby via de’ Georgofili, which killed five people and seriously damaged a number of the Gallery’s paintings.  (rosanna cirigliano)

LECTURE IN ENGLISH:  The British Institute Library remains off-limits for the moment, but the institution continues weekly virtual Wednesday lectures in English on Florence’s history, art and life, which have attracted a large international audience on Zoom.  On Wednesday, June 3 (6 pm), the series (meeting ID is 830 9304 5912, password: 5RwvQ5) will feature a talk on “Twelve-and-a-Half Centuries in Twelve-and-a-Half Hectares, Florence from Charlemagne to Shutdown” given by art historian Jeremy Boudreau.

Jeremy Boudreau returns to contribute a third lecture on one of Florence’s historic neighborhoods: his own.  Join in for a virtual tour of the via della Vigna Nuova and its immediate surroundings, including the historical monuments and urban spaces contained within a 200-meter radius from his doorstep; the extent of the outside world made available to him through short walks and supply runs during eight weeks of lockdown.