Palazzo degli Uffizi (Florence, Italy) : Loggia (facing Arno River), the Serliana/Palladian window (central arch with lateral openings)

Creator:

Buontalenti, Bernardo, ca. 1531-1608
Cosimo I de' Medici (Italian patron, 1519-1574)
Vasari, Giorgio, 1511-1574

Published/Created:

Florence, Tuscany, Italy
1559-ca. 1585

Date Depicted:

10/1/1998
1500 AD - 1699 AD

Materials:

stone

Notes:

The Uffizi, a building to house the offices of 13 administrative authorities then scattered about Florence, was an expression of the political unity that Cosimo I had imposed on his state. The plans for the project, documented from 1559, were possibly based on a sketch by Cosimo. Vasari designed two long wings, stretching from the Piazza della Signoria to the river, where they terminate in a linking wing. Each authority was provided with a complex of rooms on the ground-floor, the mezzanine and the main floor, with direct access from the portico. The arrangement of the offices is reflected in the articulation of the facade, divided into units of three bays. On the ground-floor the entrance to each unit is marked by pairs of Doric columns, flanked by piers; on the main floor the central window of the unit is emphasized by a segmental pediment. The upper floor (loggia), which was not connected to the rooms below, was probably originally intended for the use of the Duke. It was given a new function in 1565, as part of the passage (Corridoio Vasariano) linking the Palazzo Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti across the river. Construction of the Uffizi began in 1560, but it was still unfinished when Vasari died. The building was completed in the 1580s by Bernardo Buontalenti. [It is now an art museum.]

Variant Titles:

Uffizi Gallery

Topics:

Architecture -- Italy -- 16th century -- (YVRC)

Period/Style:

Mannerist

Culture:

Italian

Accession Number:

1A1-VG-PU-A2

Genre:

architecture (AAT)

Format:

Image

Content Type:

Sculptures, Models, & Architecture

Rights:

Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.

Access Restrictions:

Yale Community Only

Digital:

architectural exteriors; rulers and leaders; Art museums; Cosimo I, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, 1519-1574 construction buildings; exhibition buildings; museums; art museums; buildings; houses; official residences loggia; Serlian/Palladian motif

Source Creator:

Gilchrist, Scott

Source Title:

Archivision Base Collection

Source Created:

2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
10/1/1998

Source Note:

Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist

Yale Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Digital Collection:

Visual Resources Collection

Local Record Number:

4152

OID:

10092631

PID:

digcoll:1826431