A new year full of exhibitions has begun: between sculptures, paintings, photographs and modern exhibitions, there is something for everyone. Among the many, we have selected 3 that you absolutely cannot miss if you visit the city of Florence!
Giovanni Stradano in Florence 1523-2023. The strangest and most beautiful inventions in the world
The first exhibition, as the name suggests, is dedicated to the Flemish artist Giovanni Stradano on the 500th anniversary of his birth. The exhibition features around eighty works including paintings, drawings, prints, books, tapestries and instruments by Giorgio Vasari's main and most versatile collaborator in Florence.
The exhibition, open until 18 February 2024, is hosted in Palazzo Vecchio itself, where Giovanni Stradano was engaged for many years with the renowned artist in the decoration of the new rooms, including the Medici flats and the Hall of the Five Hundred.
If you then feel like taking a tour of the city, we suggest you consult the calendar of city itineraries dedicated to discovering the places linked to the figure of Giovanni Stradano in the historic centre, naturally pausing from time to time to listen to our 'audiopills' of culture!
Divina Simulacra. Masterpieces of Classical Sculpture from the Uffizi Gallery
Scheduled to run until 30 June 2024, this exhibition offers visitors a close-up look at the Uffizi's most beautiful ancient statues. The aim is precisely to 'give back' to the public these masterpieces, in many cases difficult to appreciate up close in their most striking details.
For the duration of the exhibition, some of the most famous classical works in the Vasarian museum will therefore be displayed outside their historical locations, in order to propose suggestive juxtapositions between the different sculptures, such as the Dancing Faun and the Seated Nymph.
In addition, visitors will be able to admire in its entirety the wonderful series of twelve ancient herms with portraits of Greek philosophers, poets and statesmen, which was originally intended for the garden of Villa Medici on the Pincio.
Pulcherrima Testimonia. Hidden Treasures in the Archdiocese of Florence
This exhibition, open to the public in San Lorenzo's Basilica until 8 September 2024, is the result of a mammoth work of inventorying and cataloguing that began in October 2009 and ended in December 2019, with the compilation of more than 271,000 cards.
The exhibition, a synthesis of the immense artistic heritage preserved in the territory of the diocese, includes more than 200 works, including masterpieces of art, the fruit of rich patronage, and more modest objects, created for small country parishes. A multiplicity of great anthropological and cultural value, which recounts the expression of faith through the centuries, sometimes even through techniques that have now disappeared.
Guiding the visitor through paintings, crucifixes, statues, furnishings, rosaries, books and ex-votos are the six sections into which the exhibition is divided (dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Virgin and the Saints, sacred ornaments, liturgical furnishings and textiles), as well as the section for works recovered by the Carabinieri Cultural Heritage Protection Command.
You just have to choose where to start: enjoy your visit!
