Exterior view

The most important example of Vasari’s architecture is the Uffizi (Offices), commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici to house the functions and records of his government and to impress Tuscans with the vastness of his bureaucracy. By unifying the regions’s administration, the building expresses the political unity achieved by Cosimo. Its four stories line three sides of a space that is more like a street than a piazza. The Uffizi derives its effect from the repetition of elements: two Tuscan columns and a pier on the ground story, while on the second story a triplet of mezzanine windows alternates with Michelangelesque consoles. The third story features another triad of windows, and the open loggia of the fourth (now unfortunately glazed) reflects the Tuscan columns of the ground story. The only break in the uniformity comes at the end, where a central arch with a Palladian motif above it opens the vista in the direction of the Arno River.

The basic outlines of the plan may have been suggested to Vasari by Cosimo I. The building was completed in the 1580s by Bernardo Buontalenti and Alfonso Parigi.

The photo shows the view looking toward the Arno.

View the site plan of Piazzale degli Uffizi and its neighbourhood.