Uffizi director invites students to skip school for museum visit

On January 21, 2021, Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, provoked controversy by inviting students to skip school and visit the museum instead. Speaking at the museum's reopening after 77 days of closure due to COVID-19 restrictions, Schmidt told young people under 18 (who enter free) that if they were going to play hooky, they should do it at the Uffizi or the Boboli Gardens, calling them places of learning and identity. The reopening was attended by Italian Education Minister Lucia Azzolina. Schmidt personally opened the doors to the first visitors, noting the closure was as long as during World War II and emphasizing the importance of direct access to culture. The statement sparked debate amid ongoing distance learning and school disruptions.