Uffizi unveils new minimalist installation for Botticelli and early Renaissance rooms

The Uffizi Galleries in Florence will reopen over 40 works in a newly installed setting from October 18, designed by architect Antonio Godoli. The project, part of the Nuovi Uffizi plan, covers rooms 9 (Pollaiolo), 10-14 (Botticelli), and 15 (Hugo van der Goes), following the completion of room 8 last month. The installation features a dry minimalism described by director Eike Schmidt as typical of international architecture but also deeply Tuscan. Key works like Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" and "Allegory of Spring" are now displayed on two superimposed volumes that conceal anchoring devices, aiming to improve visitor flow and foster dialogue with other Botticelli pieces, including the fresco "Annunciation of San Martino alla Scala" (1481), "Portrait of a Young Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder", "Calumny", and "Pallas and the Centaur". The renovation, which began in June 2015, included upgrades to security, climate control, and lighting systems. Funding of approximately €700,000 was raised by the non-profit Friends of Florence in just six weeks, also covering restoration of some paintings and part of the new lighting. President Simonetta Brandolini d’Adda dedicated the project to the 50th anniversary of the 1966 Florence flood. By year-end, further interventions will be completed without closing the museum, including a new area for temporary exhibitions. The Nuovi Uffizi project has already increased the number of galleries from 45 to 101 by reclaiming the first floor.