{"id":28748,"date":"2025-09-24T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/areademo.beculture.it\/?p=28748"},"modified":"2025-09-16T16:55:33","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T14:55:33","slug":"tribuna-degli-uffizi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/areademo.beculture.it\/en\/tribuna-degli-uffizi\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tribuna degli Uffizi: heart of the first modern museum and treasure-box of wonders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Just past the halfway point of the first corridor of the Gallerie degli Uffizi<\/a> opens the famous Tribuna<\/strong>. A magnificent, refined space<\/strong>, commissioned by Grand Duke Francesco I de\u2019 Medici and conceived as a true room of wonders. Today it can be admired from various viewpoints but, for conservation reasons, it is no longer accessible to the public. Over time, the layout of this room has been modified to protect the objects originally kept there: the unusual configuration, its precious wall-coverings and furnishings<\/strong>, and the masterpieces on display still leave visitors speechless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A princely wunderkammer<\/em>: the origin of the Tribuna<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was Cosimo I (1519\u20131574), father of Francesco I (1541\u20131587), who asked Giorgio Vasari 1<\/sup> in the mid-sixteenth century to design the Uffizi building, initially intended to house the city\u2019s administration. The second Grand Duke was responsible, however, for its transformation into an exhibition gallery\u2014the first of modern Europe<\/strong>. Francesco I had the corridors set with ancient marbles from the Medici collection and instructed the architect and friend Bernardo Buontalenti (1523\u20131608) to construct the Tribuna. What he wanted was a reserved space to suit his collecting interests and to accommodate works of art, valuable artefacts and mirabilia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within two years, between 1581 and 1583, Buontalenti created an octagonal room<\/strong>, probably inspired by the ancient Tower of the Winds in Athens and by the long Roman tradition of baptisteries and basilicas. The dome crowning the chamber ends in an open lantern, which also functions as a sundial, and the space is lit by the soft natural light that enters through the eight wall windows. Originally there was a single access from the corridor (the current side openings into the two adjoining rooms were added in the eighteenth century). The Tribuna was conceived as a place of private contemplation<\/strong>, the expression of a curious spirit that did not disdain rare and singular marvels.<\/p>\n\n\n