This was my last day of art school and only a half day.

I walked a longer route to the Accademia past Piazza Santa Croce where Green Florence is happening Friday to Sunday. A lawn has been laid in the piazza and there are olive trees. The event is about nature and sustainability. Of course, there’s food, music and stuff being sold.

I did not manage to finish my last project. But did manage to paint some light and dark background.

It needs a lot more work and I doubt I’ll finish it soon. I might just try starting a new version sometime.

After scuola, I had to walk back to the apartamento in the rain to drop off my backpack. I then headed to the Uffizi early for my reservation for Il Corridoio Vasariano (Vasari Corridor).

I had time to do a sketch of Uccello’s Battle of San Remo.

The Corridoio is a mile long enclosed elevated walkway connecting the Galleria Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti.

It was built in 1565 for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de Medici to allow him and his family to travel safely between their home (Palazzo Pitti) to the offices in the Uffizi (uffizi translates to offices). It also had the advantage of not have to walk among the riffraff. The timing of the construction coincided with the marriage of the heir, Francesco, to the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor. (Gotta impress the in-laws)

The corridor goes across the top of the Ponte Vecchio which had been the location of the meat market and thus quite smelly. Not wanting to have to smell that or have his fancy guests smell it, Cosimo had the meat market replaced with goldsmith shops. The shops of Ponte Vecchio continue to sell gold jewellery to this day.

The corridor is called Vasari because it was designed by Giorgio Vasari, the official court artist/architect/fancy event decorator for Cosimo I and the first writer of art history. Vasari was born in nearby Arrezo but was a Florence snob. He wrote the first work of art history, which title Le vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori is usually shortened to the Lives of the Artists, as a propaganda piece to claim the best art and artists are Florentine and the best artist is Michelangelo, who was still alive when the work was first published.

Vasari was one busy guy in the employ of Cosimo. Cosimo had become grand duke after a brief rebirth of the Florentine republic. A lot of people resented the end of the republic and did not want to be ruled by a dictator. Cosimo, like many others, used art and architectural works to improve/enhance his public image and Vasari was involved in most of it.

The Corridoio has not often been open to the public in recent decades. In the early morning of May 27, 1993, a Mafia bomb went off near the Galleria Ufizzi in retaliation for the arrest of a Sicilian mafia boss. Five people were killed and the Ufizzi, including the Corridoio, were heavily damaged including art works.

Around Florence are a number of variations of these sculptures called “The Tree of Peace” which commemorates victims of the bombing.

Since repaired, the corridor has been off and on open to the public. In 2016 it was closed for safety reasons (e.g. no emergency exits) and the reopening promised for years. It opened again on December 24, 2024. You have to separately book entry to the Corridoio.

The interior used to have the self portraits which are now in the Uffizi. Now it is mostly bare walls.

One section has la galleria di ritratti romani (gallery of ancient Roman portraits).

The real attraction of the Corridoio are the views.

An medieval tower is part of the Corridoio, parts of which can be seen.

Oltrarno view

Downward tilt to the floor as you get past the Ponte Vecchio

You can view into Santa Felicita, where you are essentially standing on top of the Capponi Chapel with the Pontormo paintings. Hard to see because of the reflection but on the other side of the glass is where the Medici family would sit to hear mass.

You aren’t allowed to walk all the way to the end which is inside the Pitti Palace. Instead you leave to go outside next to the Boboli Garden and the car park.

I think this door was in one of the Dan Brown movies, Inferno. Tom Hanks was running along the Corridoio.

After some packing and a lot of trying to organize stuff I didn’t arrive with — food, sunhat, books, sheets of painting and drawing paper — went for dinner at Francesco Vini. I thought I should enjoy another good pasta dish in case I don’t return.