For the first time, the Uffizi Gallery is opening an exhibition dedicated to ceroplastic sculpture. If you’re wondering what that is precisely, it is works of art using wax as their medium and you must definitely go see this exhibition if you’re here in Florence. The exhibit opens tomorrow, December 18th, and runs until April 12th, 2026, and it will open up a world in art history that has now been lost.
The title of the exhibition in Italian plays on the word “c’era” which means “once upon” and “cera” which is wax. In English, you could translate it into “Once Upon a Time. The Medici and the Arts of Wax Sculpture” for a more precise play of the words in the title. The show includes works from the Medici collection from between the 16th and 17th centuries of masterpieces created in this material, wax, largely “lost” due to its perishability but also because creations in this material never were considered to be part of the “major arts” as was painting and sculpture.
Consider how wax must have been easier and simpler to use to create soft faces and bodies under the skilled hands of Renaissance sculptors, certainly simpler than stone and iron. This organic material, with its malleable nature, lent itself to imitating the characteristics of skin in sculptures like no other. Its production was widespread but largely lost, and the aim of this exhibition is to raise awareness of this medium at the height of its splendor, with the Medici family’s collection of works created with wax. Unfortunately, in 1783, Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine auctioned these works, and most were lost. But why were these works in this medium ignored for much of art history?
In the context of a forgotten history, now rediscovered and reinterpreted in all its wonder, the exhibition will showcase works once exhibited in the Tribune of the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti, removed from the collections at the end of the 18th century, now returning to the museum for the first time after centuries. Around 90 works will be on display, including many on loan from other museums, including waxes, paintings, sculptures, cameos, and works in pietra dura. In the first room, you’ll find funeral masks—including the famous plaster funeral mask of Lorenzo the Magnificent, created by the sculptor Orsino Benintendi.
You’ll also find polychrome waxes, where the color is incorporated into the material, small portraits, “beauties in wax,” actual paintings, and approximately half of the works created by the great master of this medium, Gaetano Giulio Zumbo, who worked in Florence between 1690 and 1695 for Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici. Many of the works were restored specifically for the exhibition.
The exhibition is located on the ground floor, in new exhibition spaces in the West Wing, recently completed. For the first time, the exhibition can be visited separately from the Uffizi Gallery museum tour, with a separate ticket.
Once Upon a Time.
The Medici and the Arts of Wax Sculpture
Uffizi, Exhibition Rooms in West Wing (Ala di ponente)
From December 18, 2025 to April 12, 2026
(8:15 am – 6:00 pm, with last admission at 5:30 pm)
€10 | full price
€7 | for those with a valid admission ticket to any Uffizi Gallery museum circuit, for the same day as the exhibition.
Damned Soul, attributed to Giulio de Grazia, c. 1600-1620
From December 2, 2025, Botticelli’s Venus, Spring, Madonna of the Magnificat, Madonna of the Pomegrate and Pallas and the Centaur are temporarily displayed in the room A9, rooms that face the First Corridor, still on the second floor near the original rooms where they are generally on display.
Other works that are in those Botticelli rooms, such as the Virtues by Botticelli and Pollaiolo as well as works by Filippo Lippi, including the Madonna and Child with Two Angels, have been moved downstairs to the first floor, in the gallery’s rooms C6-C11. There you will also find Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi, Annunciation and other works by Botticelli.
The two Botticelli rooms are undergoing renovations and are expected to take about 6 months to complete. All of the works will return to their original locations once the renovations are complete.
Finally, the official news has come out: the Vasari Corridor is reopening in about a week, on December 21st!
The famous walkway that connects Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, passing over the Ponte Vecchio, has been closed since 2016 to adopt the necessary changes to bring the space up to the latest safety regulations, including adding fire/emergency exits.
Visitors from all over the world will once again be able to make the journey over the heads of the crowds below, enjoying the panoramic views of the Arno and Ponte Vecchio itself. It will be a journey back in time to when the corridor was first created over 500 years ago for the Medici family.
The 750 meter long “tunnel”, which once housed the world’s most extensive collection of self-portraits by famous artists throughout the centuries, will reopen “nude” with nothing on the walls. The previous museum director had proposed to line some of the walls with Greek and Roman marble epigraphs which have been in the Uffizi storage deposits since 1919 on re-opening but it seems that is no longer the plan.
The new Corridor will be accessible to all, with ramps, platforms and lifts to make it easy to go over any differences in levels; a public restroom; low-energy LED lighting and entirely video monitored. In addition to creating 5 emergency exits, structural consolidation operations were made as part of the earthquake prevention plan, and the plaster work, tiles and terracotta floor were all restored.
HOW TO VISIT THE VASARI CORRIDOR
Now the important part, how to visit the Vasari Corridor: you can only visit it as part of your visit to the Uffizi Gallery with an extra supplement for a total of €47 (includes booking fee of €4). Reservations are required, as the Corridor will be visited only as part of a group of a maximum of 25 people.
Visits to the Corridor can be booked starting on Tuesday, December 10 online, with the first group starting at 10.15am and every 20 minutes after that, with the last group leaving at 4.35pm, Tuesdays through Sundays. With the combo ticket, visitors can enter the Uffizi two hours before the scheduled Vasari Corridor tour, to visit the museum BEFORE as the tour of the Corridor is only one-way and ends at the Boboli Gardens and you won’t be able to return to the Uffizi to visit the rest of the museum. The ticket does not include the Boboli Gardens so you will be accompanied to the exit in the courtyard of the Pitti Palace. The ticket will include a link to the map that shows the route within the museum to get to room D19 on the first floor of the Uffizi, which has the access door to enter the Corridor and start the tour.
The visit along the Corridor lasts 45 minutes, you will be accompanied by two museum personnel but it won’t be a guided tour. Please show up at the access door 5 minutes before your booked tour so that you don’t forfeit your visit.
The Uffizi Gallery has confirmed that it will be extraordinarily open on Monday, April 1, 2024, the day after Easter Sunday. The museum will be open on Easter Sunday as well, as it generally is open on Sundays, but Mondays are the day the museum is closed. So a special opening needs to be agreed upon, particularly where holidays are concerned.
In addition to April 1st, the museum also announced its other special openings for Mondays this year: it will be also be open on April 29th, on June 24th (feast day for St. John, Patron Saint for the city of Florence) and on December 30th.
Oltre ai martedì di speciali aperture serali, ce ne saranno anche altre straordinarie in programma il lunedì, ordinariamente giorno di chiusura settimanale delle Gallerie: l’iniziativa riguarderà Uffizi e Giardino di Boboli, che saranno aperti in orario ordinario nelle date del primo e del 29 aprile, del 24 giugno (Festa di San Giovanni, Santo Patrono di Firenze) e del 30 dicembre.
Starting today, March 26, and up until December 17, 2024, the Uffizi Gallery will have longer opening hours every Tuesday. The longer hours will give visitors the chance to see the masterpieces of the Renaissance in the sunset light, particularly the works of marble along the main corridors.
Normal closing hour is at 6.30pm but on Tuesdays, the museum will remain open until 10pm. The last entry will be at 8.30pm so that visitors have enough time to make their way through the museum.
Wonderful news as far as tickets are concerned! By the end of May 2024, the new director of the Uffizi Simone Verde, has announced that once you’ve pre-booked your ticket, you will no longer need actually show a paper ticket at the museum to enter. The new system will only require to show the QR code you will receive by email after you’ve booked online.
This applies whether you’ve booked online through the Bticket website or through the call center (+39-055-295883). If you’ve already booked your tickets, up until the new system goes online, you will continue to have to show paper tickets.
The new system should make entrance into the museum more fluid, considered the first step in clearing out some of the crowds that are created in the Piazzale degli Uffizi.
This October 2023, the Uffizi museum will have 5 extended evening hours on Tuesdays, remaining open until 9.30pm. The dates are October 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31.
On those days, the ticket office will close at 8.30pm, time at which the last entrance is allowed.
The Uffizi Gallery will be open following regular hours on Easter Sunday, and with a special opening on Monday, April 22nd. The museum will observe regular openings hours, from 8.15am to 6.50pm, with last entrance at 6.20pm.
The Uffizi Gallery has set specific days on which it will have FREE entrance for everyone in 2019 to commemorate and honor special historical and traditional occasions, each accompanied with entertainment and other special offerings. Also note that it no longer will always be doing the “free first Sundays” throughout the year, just from October 2019 through March 2020.
Mark your calendars and check against your time in Florence to know whether you can visit the museum on these days.
Most importantly, keep in mind that you CANNOT book a ticket on these days and the Firenze Card will not give you priority access.
Days in 2019 with FREE entrance for all
Museum Week: from March 5 – 10, 2019 – this is a week that is being “reinstated” this year after a hiatus of a few years. The week will change every year, so don’t necessarily expect it to occur in March each year.
March 24 – the eve of the Florentine New Year, as well as the birth of Francesco I de’ Medici in 1541, considered “founder” of the Uffizi Gallery as a museum and research space. The day being offered a day early, since the actual day of (03.25) is a normal closing day.
May 26 – Commemoration of the Georgofili Terrorist Bombing of the Uffizi also a day early since the day of the actual event (05.27) is a day of closure for the museum. The car bombing by the Mafia took place in 1993, the event seeks to underscore the Importance of Legality in our world.
June 2 – Day of the Republic for all of Italy
June 23 – Again, this is on the eve of St. John the Baptist’s Feast Day, patron saint for Florence, considering the 24th is a day the museum is usually closed.
August 11 – this is a particular one tied to the Uffizi: to remember that on the 12th of August 1762 there was a huge fire that destroyed part of the museum, including many works of art.
October 11 – the two dates in October are dedicated to women, the first is dedicated to Vittoria della Rovere, the last descendant of the Dukes of Urbino dynasty, wife to Francesco II and the 5th Grand Duchess of Tuscany on the day of her arrival to Florence.
October 31 – in commemoration of the “Family Pact” signed by Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, last descendant of the Medici family, who left the family’s vast collections of art to Florence and Tuscany.
November 6 – to celebrate the birthday of Leopold de’ Medici (born in 1617), Cardinal and a man of culture and science, passionate collector who contributed greatly during his lifetime to increasing the Medici collections, which today are part of the museum.
First Sundays of the Month
The First Sundays of the month will only be offered between October 2019 and March 2020, therefore, on these dates:
October 6, 2019
November 3, 2019
December 1, 2019
January 5, 2020
February 2, 2020
March 1, 2020
If you’re in Florence this long holiday weekend, enjoy the special opening of the Uffizi on Monday, August 14th and the Boboli Gardens.
Then on Tuesday, the day of Ferragosto (a national holiday across all of Italy), all museums will be open, including the Uffizi and Pitti and Boboli. Remember that on Tuesdays this summer the Uffizi also has longer opening hours, up until 9:50pm for the #UffiziLive cultural program.
This weekend before the holiday all museums are open with normal opening hours. On Monday, the Uffizi will haev a special opening and be open from 8.15-18.50 while the Boboli Gardens will be open 8.15-19.30.
On Tuesday at the Uffizi for #UffiziLive visitors can enjoy Vincanto & Patrizia Breschi. If you’re here in Florence, these openings ensure you have loads of opportunities to spend the long holiday weekend surrounded by art!
Just a reminder: tickets are sold up to an hour before closing time, then closing procedures start about 20 minutes before closing time.
Here’s a recap of the museums and opening times for Monday and Tuesday:
|
Uffizi |
Pitti |
Boboli |
|
|
Monday, August 14 |
8.15-18.50 special opening |
closed * |
8.15-19.30 |
|
Tuesday, August 15 |
8.15-21.50 longer opening hours |
8.15-18.50 |
8.15-19.30 |
* riposo settimanale del lunedì
