Arte decorativa
The Art Gallery
Tourist informations
Entrance from: the Uffizi gallery.
Opening hours: only with reservation.
Opening hours: only with reservation.
The Vasari Corridor is a part of the Uffizi Gallery; it was built by Vasari and crosses the Arno over the Old Bridge joining Palazzo Vecchio with Pitti Palace.
History
After the Medici transferred their residence to Pitti Palace, Cosimo I commissioned in 1565 the architect Giorgio Vasari with the building of a corridor joining Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi and Pitti Palace.
In his Lives of the Artists Vasari describes the great problems he had to solve in order to build a corridor across the river and above the existing Old Bridge; nevertheless the corridor was completed in five months, just in time for the wedding of Prince Francesco de' Medici with Joan of Austria (March 10th, 1566).
Click to enlarge pictures.
A part of the Vasari Corridor was destroyed by the retreating German army in 1944 and its rebuilding was completed in 1950; the Corridor has been recently restored and reopened to visitors, although only small groups are admitted.
In the spotlight
In the Corridor are exposed over 700 paintings from 17th to 19th Century.
Among them is the very important Collection of Self-Portraits, begun from cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici and subsequently enriched with purchased and donated paintings. The collection includes portaits of famous artists, such as Bernini, Rubens (three self-portraits from different years), Canova, Delacroix, Ingres, Fattori.
The final part of the Corridor located in the Gardens of Boboli contains a large Collection of Portraits of celebrities from 16th to 19th Century.
