The Terrace of Geographic Maps of the Uffizi: a testament to the power of the Medici family in Tuscany

After two years of restorations carried out by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence, we can return to admire the Terrace of Geographic Maps of the Uffizi, a place rich in history from which visitors can enjoy a beautiful view of the city.

Giorgio Vasari had designed this space as an open loggia, but it was closed at the end of the sixteenth century, when after the victory of Florence against Siena, Ferdinando de' Medici became Grand Duke of a recently unified Tuscany.
To celebrate this achievement and the power of the Medici family, Ferdinando I had cartographer Stefano Bonsignori and painter Tommaso Buti, respectively create and paint the maps of the territory of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany: large geographical maps on a scale of 1: 30,000, which fill the walls of the hall.

One wall is dedicated to the representation of the Island of Elba, repainted in the mid-nineteenth century, after the original was lost during the renovation of the terrace.
Next to the map of Elba, the refined sixteenth-century table top decorated in semi-precious stones with the Florentine Commesso technique is now on display, depicting the View of the port of Livorno and made by Cristofano Gaffurri based on a design by Jacopo Ligozzi.

The geographic maps are incredibly detailed and elegant, embellished with decorations and toponyms written in gold.
The coffered ceiling, painted with mythological motifs and allegories, was made by Jacopo Zucchi in Rome, where Ferdinand lived before becoming Grand Duke, and transported in its entirety to Florence.

The beautiful room, restored to its original splendor, can now return to tell the story of the Tuscan territory, and who knows, perhaps even to fill visitors with emotion as it did in the film La Sindrome di Stendhal (1996) by Dario Argento, who shot in this very room the scene in which the protagonist fainted, overwhelmed by the beauty of the works of art in it contained.