One million dollars to create the new layout of the Vasari Corridor, work on which is currently underway. It was donated today by the Edwin L. Wiegand Foundation of Reno, Nevada. The signing of the agreement was held in the Vasari Auditorium of the Uffizi Galleries. «I heartily thank Raymond and Marisa Avansino and the Edwin L. Wiegand Foundation: their generous donation will be used to complete the restoration of the Vasari Corridor – says the director Eike Schmidt – In particular, it will be used to create the installations that will make it a true journey of memory, from the Roman epigraphs and marble portraits of classical antiquity to the detached frescoes of the sixteenth century, from the commemorative space of the Night of the Bridges (4 August 1944) to that dedicated to the Georgofili massacre (27 May 1993). These attacks have deeply wounded the Vasari Corridor, together with the entire city of Florence. We also owe our commitment to the victims of 1993 in making the work proceed, so that the inauguration of the restoration takes place on the occasion of the next anniversary of the Georgofili massacre.”
The new setup
No paintings will be exhibited in the “new” Vasari Corridor, due to the express prohibition by the Fire Brigade of introducing flammable material. Instead, the formidable collection of ancient Greek and Roman marble epigraphs from the Uffizi, which until now remained locked in storage, will finally be brought to light. These are almost three hundred Greek and Latin marble inscriptions, which constitute the main nucleus of the grand ducal epigraphic museum established between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with a few additions from the early nineteenth century. Thus an epigraphic collection has been recomposed which has been widely renowned in scientific and traveler’s literature since the 18th century; a collection to be counted among the oldest in an Italian public museum. The epigraphs remained on display in the Uffizi for almost three centuries, until 1919, when the collection was dismembered and then placed in storage. Its recomposition in the Corridor just above Ponte Vecchio will be integrated with didactic devices adapted to modern accessibility criteria. With the addition of Hellenistic and Roman sculptures, just as happened in the Vasari original, the Corridor will thus largely become a new and exciting archaeological journey. But not only that: inside it will also house the sixteenth-century frescoes (removed and put into storage in the nineteenth century) which once decorated the external part of the passage in the section overlooking the Boboli Gardens.
Over the last century, this unique architectural structure has been affected by two dramatic events in the history of Florence: the passage of the Second World War, with the destruction by Nazi troops who devastated the buildings on the two banks of the river on 4 August 1944. ‘Arno at the ends of Ponte Vecchio and caused the collapse of part of the Corridor itself; the mafia explosion on 29 May 1993, which caused the death of five citizens and serious damage to the Uffizi gallery and its heritage. For these reasons, two sectors of the Vasari – corresponding to the places devastated by those tragic episodes – are destined to host memorials that will offer testimony to these tragedies and will be a warning for the future.
But not only that: the interior of the Corridor will also host the sixteenth-century frescoes (removed and put into storage in the nineteenth century) which once decorated the external part of the passage in the section overlooking the Boboli Gardens, and a selection of Hellenistic and Roman sculptures, just as happened in Vasari’s original.
Jobs
The necessary – and as it emerged after the start of the works, even urgent – restoration works follow four objectives: improve structural safety thanks to the consolidation interventions of the wall structures; adapt the building to fire prevention regulations through a set-up free of flammable materials, the reopening and bringing pre-existing vertical connections into compliance and the creation of new emergency routes within the historic structures; make the Corridor universally accessible through leveled floor paths and the construction of elevators; plant adaptation and energy containment through the creation of mechanical systems for air conditioning and the use of geothermal energy.
The progress and timing of the intervention, which began in the midst of the pandemic at the end of 2021, were affected by the discovery of structural damage which required important consolidation works carried out also with the insertion of numerous chains, in particular in the points damaged by the explosions from ’44 and ’93. During the works, on the positive side, portions of Vasari’s original floor and other sixteenth-century elements of the Vasari Corridor were found: substantial portions of the original terracotta, ancient plaster, parts of stone masonry.
These architectural findings, whose historical importance has been confirmed by archive data, made it necessary to design and approve a variant of the project, to preserve and leave visible these original elements.
The works have now reached a point that will soon allow the installation of the works in the various sections of the Vasari Corridor.