The Uffizi Gallery, Florence viewed from the South.
Photo: Morio via Wikimedia Commons

Following violent storms, cultural officials in the city of Florence, Italy ordered the temporary closure of several museums in the Tuscan city on Friday, including the famous Uffizi Gallery, Art Magazin reported.

Museum officials from the Uffizi have announced that they are examining the building and its famous collection for water damage. The collection includes some of the great Renaissance masterpieces by Fra Angelico, Botticelli, and Raphael, among others. Meanwhile the Italian culture ministry has deployed a team of experts to Florence to evaluate the damage to the city’s famous cultural heritage. The Palazzo Pitti, Museum San Marco, and the Palazzo Davanzati were also temporarily closed.

The Courtyard at The Uffizi Gallery Following the Storm
Photo: uffizi.org

According to Reuters, there were no initial reports of damage to Florence’s art museums or to the collections within them. Officials at the Uffizi Museum will be relieved that they won’t have to spend part of the recent €600,000 donation from luxury giant Salvatore Ferragamo on repair work (“Uffizi to Reopen Eight Renaissance Rooms After Ferragamo Gift“). However, not all of the city was so lucky. Several stained glass windows of churches were damaged by hail. And the Renaissance Palazzo Vecchio, which serves as the city’s town hall and as a museum, was affected by light flooding.

The damage occurred on Thursday, when Florence was struck by thunderstorms and torrential rain that injured 20 people. Streets, cellars, and ground floors of buildings in the city center were flooded and several trees were felled by high winds. Florence Mayor, Dario Nardella, issued a severe weather warning and urged all residents to stay at home.