From middle age to Renaissance, Uffizi Masterpieces to put in your Florence bucket list

The Gallery is so vast that you can visit this Uffizi Gallery all day and still be not able to cover everything on display as you stop to admire the innumerable artefacts, paintings and sculptures on display in the dozens of rooms and passages and struggle to take in everything on display. It is better to have a professional guide to take you through the most important, never to miss items on display and educate you on its history and importance within about 4 hours or as much as you can spare.

The following list of 10 masterpieces can be taken as a very rough guide for must-see artworks when you visit the Uffizi Gallery. Apart from this, there are dozens more of exquisite artworks on display which catch your eye as you move through the different rooms of the museum.

This is probably the most famous of all Uffizi Gallery collections. The sheer size of the work, all the little details depicted in all aspects and the incredibly beautiful Venus coming out of the Sea and standing on her shell leaves an indelible mark on the visitor. It was painted by Sandro Botticelli during the period between 1482 and 1485. Here, the Goddess Venus is portrayed naked in a shell on a windy day on a seashore while her maid waits with her clothes to dress her. This is the first painting on canvas in Tuscany at that time. The use of the very expensive alabaster powder has made the colours appear even more bright and timeless. This work is a tribute to Botticelli’s exceptional artistic ability to bring thoughts and romantic ideas of love so truly and magnificently to canvas, also his exceptional painting techniques and a superb choice of relevant quality materials and colours for the works.

This is a 15^th-century altar masterpiece by Fra Angelico. The coronation of the Virgin is a huge 4.5 Mt x 3.5 Mt fast-drying and long-lasting tempera painting on wood with Gold background, done in the year 1414 for the high altar of the church at Santa Maria, Florence. This work depicts the coronation of the Virgin by Christ. The magnificent piece of art was installed in the Uffizi Gallery in the year 1825. The work is exceptional in its minute details and depicts a large gathering of saints and angels enhancing the divinity of the occasion, with each person beautifully and uniquely depicted by the master painter. There is also a detailed engraving work in the gilt, adding to its beauty and making it a true masterpiece.

According to one legend, Laocoön was a priest from Troy, who along with his two sons, Antiphantes and Thymbraeus, were killed for exposing the Trojan Horse trick. The famous sculpture was excavated in 1506 in a damaged state. It was restored by sculptors and went on public display in the Vatican, and it still remains there in the Vatican Museum. Baccio Bandinelli was commissioned for making a model based on this original sculpture. He saw the sculpture and after getting to know the mythological story behind this brilliant artwork, modelled a modern replica to gift it to King Francis I. This work by the renowned Baccio Bandinelli now adores the Uffizi Gallery as one of its prime attractions.

Parmigianino is known for creating innovative works based on the earlier masterpieces of his illustrious better-known painters of the previous generations. He is famous for integrating his innovative, even radical ideas in his paintings to create new modern masterpieces which have their own unique grace and quality. This Madonna artwork is one such painting based on the original idea, but having a uniquely different approach making it a unique masterpiece. This painting depicts Virgin Mary seated on a high pedestal, holding baby Jesus on her lap, with the crowd surrounding her to adore the baby. This modern art is different from the traditional master painters in that this is extremely unorthodox in the way it depicts the scene, especially the large baby and the long neck of Virgin Mary, maybe in a bid to add the grace of a Swan to the holy Virgin.

This painting by the High Renaissance master painter is dated 1517. Raphael is known to be different from the other illustrious painters of his era and earlier in the way he brought a different approach with realism into his works. This painting of the Pope Leo X with his two cardinals depicts the Pope very much more realistically in his true, real-life appearance without glossing over his physical drawbacks as most painters of that and earlier era would have done with the same work. Incidentally, this Pope commissioned some of the most brilliant works on display in the Uffizi Gallery even today. The master painter has beautifully depicted the abacus balls of the Medici dynasty on the Pope’s chair, and the Hamilton Bible kept open on the table. What differentiates this master from other great painters of earlier times is visible in this portrait where the Pope is realistically depicted as a middle-aged man with probably less than perfect eyesight, unlike others who would have hidden any such deficiencies of the Duke.

This lovely painting by Gentile da Fabriano with a combination of the Gothic depiction of beauty and the extraordinary attention to minute details is an example of one of the earliest transitions of the art from the Gothic to the Renaissance era in the Uffizi Gallery . This painting is generally recognised as his finest piece of work and is recognised as the culminating piece of work in international Gothic painting. It is a panel work with tempera paint. At the end of their long journey, the Magi arrive, guided by the star before the birth of Jesus and kneel before the holy family to offer their gifts. Their rich and fashionable attire, the big entourage consisting of even animals show that they are from the far East. The long journey starting by the appearances of the star and their return is depicted beautifully in three parts in the background, separated by the three arches of the frame.

Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian renaissance artist, is arguably the most famous and best painter ever to live on this planet. The Annunciation is one of his 16 famous paintings, and Uffizi Gallery is one of the very few museums to have his painting in its collection list. This painting is now accepted to be a joint work by da Vinci with his master Verrocchio; however it still has a stamp of his unique style and class, especially the way Angel Gabriel is portrayed, with her face having an uncanny resemblance to his other more famous later paintings like Mona Lisa. This Annunciation painting shows us a glimpse of the enormous talents of a young da Vinci and is of the era 1472 to 1475. This painting is about the angel Gabriel who is sent to the Virgin Mary by God to inform her that she will conceive and give birth to a baby to be called Jesus. This subject was an inspiration to many more renaissance era paintings by many artists. The painting was brought to Uffizi Gallery in 1867 where it was recognised as a work of art by a young Leonardo da Vinci.

Along with Birth of Venus, this Medusa is probably one of the most famous art pieces in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. It, like many other artworks, is based on one of the most famous mythological characters, a gorgon. Medusa was a gorgon who had serpents for hair and was so terrifying that anyone who saw her turned into stone. The Goddess Athena gave a shield to Perseus to avoid seeing her so that he could kill her. This great work by Caravaggio enabled him to get into direct competition with Leonardo da Vinci by submitting this artwork to the Medici family, like his contemporary artist. This particular painting is supposed to have captured the horror in her face as she recognised that her head was separated from her body, just before her death. Caravaggio is known for naturally and realistically portraying facial expressions, called Baroque, very similar to Italian renaissance art. His use of the dark and light contrast brings out the reality of the moment in this painting, making it appear 3D.

The Doni Tondo is about the only panel painting by Michelangelo still surviving the test of time and offers a glimpse of his artistic mastery. The other two, unfinished, panel paintings are on display in the National Museum in London. This is believed to have been commissioned by Aglono Doni to commemorate his marriage to a princess belonging to a powerful Tuscany family. The painting still in its original frame is in the form of a tondo, meaning round, which was associated with domestic themes during the renaissance era. This painting depicts the holy family of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus sitting on the grass in the foreground with five nude figures in the far background.

This is the most famous and beautiful nude painting of Titian in Uffizi Gallery and way ahead of its time for its bold eroticism. It was from the period 1532 – 1534 and was sold to a duke in 1538. It sensuously depicts the Goddess of love who stares at the viewer alluringly. This is believed to be bought by the duke as a gift to his young bride as a reminder about the erotic aspects of marriage and is set in a usual noble, palatial surroundings with the maid in the background presumably looking for her bridal ornaments. It inspired many painters to follow up on the same and similar themes in later years and the fame of Titian increased enormously after this sensuous nude painting was purchased by the noble. It came to the Uffizi Gallery in the year 1694.

Florence is a wonderful place to have in your itinerary. You can customise your visit to Florence, list out and plan the bucket list with Trip.com. A visit to the Uffizi Gallery has to be somewhere on top of the list as a must-visit. Here on this website, you can get the best package deals, lowest airfares, discount hotel accommodations. You can also have information on sightseeing tours, shopping bargains and on anything else, you can think of. You can gather all the information you need to finalise your trip to Italy to make it a pleasant, hassle-free, safe and memorable trip, one to cherish and preserve in your memory for all times to come.

There are many ways of getting an admission to this must-visit museum. You can book your tickets online at the time and date of your convenience. The confirmatory email can be shown for admission. There are three categories of tickets available for the visitors under the free, reduced rates and full rates admission.

Free admission is allowed for all minors under 18 years, irrespective of citizenship. Also eligible for free tickets are all accredited journalists, all handicapped, disabled European Union citizens along with one family member and also for the members of the International Council of Museums, ICOM.

Reduced tickets are given to all EU citizens between 18 and 25 years of age. Also eligible are teachers from European Union including Montecarlo, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Republic of San Marino and Lichtenstein, public institutes. You need to bring proof of your position in the institute for availing this benefit.

Full ticket admission without any concession applies to all European Union citizens over 25 years, with this limit dropping to 18 years in case of citizens of non-EU countries.

For booking of tickets, you can call 39-055-294-883, or book through online directly and avoid the long queues, by booking through the authorised vendors. A fee of Euro 4 is normally added to the ticket cost, which is generally between Euro 12 and Euro 20 per person, depending on the season. Before booking, compare the cost between some approved websites and ensure that the price includes commission and booking charges. It is also advisable to book for a 3 day pass to visit different sections of the Museum on different days. You can also buy an annual pass to get unlimited entry into the Museum. It is best to book both entry tickets combined with a guided tour of the Uffizi Gallery in advance. The Museum is enormously big with dozens of rooms exhibiting the display of priceless artefacts and paintings. You would need an English speaking professional guide to take you and talk you through the collections to make it a more memorable, enjoyable and knowledgeable visit to cherish for a long time.

Address: Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy

Hours: 8:15AM- 6:50PM/ Monday: Closed

Tickets: € 2–20( actual prices may vary according to the day and events)