Florence, May 29, 2025 – The Uffizi Gallery has opened a major new exhibition celebrating 18th-century European art and culture. “Florence and Europe. Arts of the Eighteenth Century” runs from May 28 to November 28, 2025.
The show features 150 works, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, tapestries, prints and porcelain. Visitors will see masterpieces by Goya, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Le Brun and Subleyras, among others.
Many works had remained in storage for over a decade due to gallery expansion. Some pieces are on public display for the first time, including Subleyras’ Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine de’ Ricci. The Uffizi acquired and restored this monumental work during the exhibition’s setup.
Museum Director Simone Verde and curator Alessandra Griffo organised the show as an act of rediscovery. Verde said the exhibition reflects “a multifaceted century” that helped shape modern Europe.
“We’ve built a complex narrative with patience and care,” he added.
From private collection to public museum
The exhibition highlights the Uffizi’s transformation from royal collection to public museum. That change began with Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici’s will in 1737. She bound the Medici collections to Florence “for the ornament of the State”.
In 1769, Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo granted free museum access during Florence’s patron saint festival. This marked a major shift in viewing art as a public good.
The exhibition begins with religious and dynastic works from the final Medici period. Pieces by Giovan Battista Foggini and Sebastiano Ricci show this enduring vision.
Joan Richter’s portrait of Gian Gastone de’ Medici captures the splendour and decline of the Florentine court.
Griffo said the 18th century formed “modern mentality, sensibility and even taste”. She noted that today’s fascination with the Renaissance actually began during this period.
The curators hope to reframe the century not as decline but as artistic and cultural evolution. The restored galleries now give space to an era often overshadowed by earlier masters.
The Uffizi’s “Florence and Europe” exhibition invites visitors to explore Enlightenment ideals and the roots of the modern museum.
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