An ancient iron key, of one of the large doors of the museum, symbolically changed hands: thus the era of Eike Schmidt at the Uffizi came to an end after eight years of 'government', the first foreigner to lead the famous museum and the Palazzo Pitti and Boboli.
The key was taken by the new director of the Uffizi Galleries, Simone Verde, who together with his predecessor also unveiled the plaque named after the former superintendent of the Florentine museum complex and former minister Antonio Paolucci, who passed away in recent days, right there the auditorium where the handover took place.
A day also characterized by a new Latest Generation blitz at the Uffizi: in the afternoon militants covered Botticelli's The Birth of Venus with images of the Campi Bisenzio floods attached with paper tape to the case protecting the masterpiece.
The gesture did not cause any damage, but sparked comments of condemnation and led to the denunciation of three activists.
Already in July 2022 Last Generation had struck at the Uffizi: then militants had 'glued' themselves to the glass that protects Botticelli's Primavera.
"I came to Florence specifically for this ceremony - said Schmidt - immediately afterwards I will return to the museum I manage in Naples, Capodimonte; there is still a lot to do at the Uffizi and with a bit of luck at the end of the first four years of the direction Green could double the 60 million revenues in 2023."
Verde, intent on taking up the challenge, immediately explains that he will work not only to strengthen the position of the Uffizi as the most important Italian museum, but to make it "the central hub of the entire national museum system: because the Uffizi, of this system, are the natural reference point".
Among the various projects announced "a study center named after Antonio Paolucci, founded on the basis of his book collection donated by his son to the museum" which "will allow us to have an international scientific centre", the creation of a section at the Gallery of Statues and history paintings of the collections, "the absolute relaunch" of the Treasury of the Grand Dukes and Palazzo Pitti because "we need to make Pitti grow, we cannot think of making the numbers of the Uffizi grow further because this would lead to sustainability problems".
Among the projects highlighted by Verde also the launch, again at Pitti, of the open storage project to offer public viewing the prestigious heritage of historical furniture of the palace and the projects to enhance the Boboli Gardens.
However, there is also room for digital.
"Five million visitors also mean the need to improve and expand services - he said - to dematerialize tickets and introduce digital mediation devices".
The new director then announced that the museum is working "to activate a weekly evening opening intended for Florentines".
On the major themes of the museum, Verde explained that "a reopening date will soon be announced" of the Vasari Corridor "which will have to be quite close", while on the loggia for the exit of the Uffizi he observed: "Isozaki had made a project conceived for 1.2 million visitors, but today we have 5 million visitors", therefore, "instead of looking at the negative thing, that is, that the lodge is no longer being built, I would look at the positive one, of how we are rethinking the entrances and routes for the visitors who have increased fivefold and will continue to grow".
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