Uffizi highlights: best and most important paintings not to miss
The Uffizi gallery is such a big museum, and so rich in artworks, that it can be overwhelming. Seeing every single painting there is impossible. You have to make a selection, and this can be difficult for someone who is not familiar with the museum. In this blogpost you will find the most famous, important and unmissable artworks, the best paintings of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It will be easier to visit the museum, making sure you don’t miss the most beautiful works and without wasting too much time.
The best way to optimize your time at the Uffizi is taking a guided tour. A professional tour guide will let you know the history and secrets of all the museum’s masterpieces, without wasting any time.
I am Claudia, a licensed local tour guide in Florence, with over 10 years of experience. Learn more about me and my private Uffizi gallery tour!
- My tips for visiting the Uffizi Gallery
Navigate the Uffizi gallery
- The Uffizi is a big, U-shaped building, made of 3 floors. Ground floor is considered floor zero in Italy!).
- Artworks are displayed on the first and second floors. Ground floor is dedicated to ticket offices, bookshops and temporary exhibits.
- The visit always starts on the second floor, and then goes down to the first.
- Each floor is organized with a long U-shaped gallery with frescoed ceilings. On the right side there are the windows, while on the left side there are the rooms where the paintings are exhibited.
To make you understand where the works of art are located, I will indicate the floor for each one. And then if the room is located in the first or second part of the gallery, corresponding to the first or second arm of the U.
Uffizi most famous artwork: the Birth of Venus by Botticelli
The Birth of Venus, painted around 1485 by Sandro Botticelli is definitely the most famous artwork of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It’s probably the most famous and iconic painting ever, together with the Mona Lisa. And it’s probably larger than you think.
You’ll find the Birth of Venus in the third of the four rooms dedicated to Botticelli, at second floor (rooms 10-14). As you can imagine, even if it’s a very large one, that’s the most crowded room of the museum. I mean… it’s always crowded!
- The Birth of Venus is not just beautiful and iconic, it is also full of hidden meanings and symbols. To learn more, read my post with some interesting facts about the Birth of Venus.
Must-see masterpieces (Uffizi best paintings)
Here you’ll find the most important artworks, the paintings you really shouldn’t miss during your visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
They are listed in the same order in which you will find them displayed inside the museum, to make your visit easier. They are not listed by importance, they are all important and very significant. The Uffizi exhibits paintings ranging from the 13th to the 17th century, created by hundreds of different artists: so it is impossible to draw up a ranking of such different artists, eras and styles.
- Apart from Caravaggio’s ones, all the most important masterpieces of the Uffizi are on the first floor.
Majesty or Madonna Ognissanti by Giotto
The most beautiful painting by Giotto housed at the Uffizi is this large wooden panel with a golden background, created around 1300. Giotto is the most important medieval artist in Italy, the one who showed the way for all subsequent artists for several centuries, until Renaissance.
The Madonna Ognissanti is located on the second floor, in the first room that you will find on the left at the beginning of the gallery. It’s the room dedicated to the Florentine Middle Ages.
Double portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca
Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, aka the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, were portrayed by Piero della Francesca between 1473 and 1475. Their profile portraits are so iconic and recognizable that even today, after more than 5 centuries, they are definitely in the top 10 of the things to see at the Uffizi.
Don’t forget to go around the portraits. They’re painted on the back too! On the reverse the husband and wife are portrayed as a pair of Roman gods, Mars and Venus.
The Spring by Botticelli (La Primavera)
Another iconic and world famous artwork by Botticelli, made for the Medici family around 1485. The Spring (Primavera is the original name in Italian) is full of mythological characters such as Venus, Cupid and Mercury, packed with symbols and references to love in all its forms. The painting also has planty of plants and flowers!
You can find the Spring by Botticelli in the second of the rooms dedicated to Sandro Botticelli, in the first part of the gallery on the second floor. This room is also always very crowded.
Here you’ll find all of Botticelli’s artworks in Florence
Three paintings by Leonardo da Vinci
The Uffizi Gallery houses 3 paintings by Leonardo da Vinci:
- The Baptism of Christ (learn more about Leonardo’s first painting)
- The Annunciation
- The Adoration of the Magi
The first two are particularly important, because they are the first two paintings that a very young Leonardo painted at the beginning of his career. The third is unfinished, despite this it remains beautiful, one of the best paintings of the Uffizi, in my opinion.
The three masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci are all exhibited together in the same room (room n. 15), located on the second floor, at the beginning of the second part of the gallery.
Tondo Doni by Michelangelo
Tondo Doni is the only mobile painting that Michelangelo ever made, and with mobile I mean that can be taken off the wall. He actually mostly painted frescos. And it also have a round shape, which is quite uncommon! After having enjoyed the sculpted bodies and the bright colors, don’t forget to admire the wooden frame. It was also designed by Michelangelo himself.
Tondo Doni is housed in the room dedicated to Michelangelo and Raffaello. Which is located right after the Leonardo da Vinci room (again on the second floor, in the second part of the U-shaped gallery).
Madonna of the Goldfinch (del Cardellino) by Raffaello
This is one of the most famous artworks by Raffaello Sanzio, made in Florence around 1506. I really like it for the game of looks between the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus and the little Saint John the Baptist. The cute bird in the hands of the kids, with its blood-red spot on its feathers, symbolizes Jesus Christ’s sacrifice.
The Madonna of the Goldfinch is located in the same room as Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, along with other masterpieces by Raphael, on the second floor.
Head of medusa by Caravaggio
This masterpiece made by Caravaggio in the late 16th century is so famous that it even inspired Versace for its logo. The head of Medusa, just severed by Perseus and still dripping with blood, was painted on a wooden shield for Ferdinando I de’ Medici. He probably used it in official parades, such a precious shield was certainly not used in battle.
You can find he shield with the head of Medusa by Caravaggio in the rooms dedicated to this artist, in the second part of the gallery on the first floor. There are two other paintings by Caravaggio in the same section of the museum!).
Other paintings to see at the Uffizi Gallery (if you have extra time)
It’s difficult to select just a handful of works in one of the world’s most masterpiece-rich museums. There are many other paintings worthy to be seen, perhaps as important as the ones I have just listed, but less famous internationally. Here I have listed some of my favorite artworks at the Uffizi Gallery. If you have some extra time for your visit, I recommend you don’t miss them.
Annunciation by Simone Martini. A XIV century masterpiece with the sweetest Virgin Mary of the whole Middle Ages. (Beginning of the first gallery on the second floor, in the room to the left of Giotto’s).
Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello. A dreamy, almost surrealistic battle with cold colors, tons of horses and a certain abuse of perspective. I love this Early Renaissance painting! (First gallery on the second floor, same room as the portraits of the Dukes of Urbino).
Tribuna by Bernardo Buontalenti. Not a painting, but a whole room filled with artworks and symbolism. In my opinion it is the most beautiful room in the world. (First part of the second floor gallery).
Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi. A bloody, gruesome decapitation painted by one a few female artist of the 1600s in Italy. (second part of the first floor gallery, just before Caravaggio).
Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo by Bronzino (and the other Medici’s portraits by Bronzino). The most magnificent and realistic portrait of a lady and her dress. But all the other portraits of the Medici family at the times of Cosimo I, made by Bronzino, are gorgeous. They are located at the first floor, in the first part of the U-shaped gallery.
That’s all! I hope this post about the best artworks at the Uffizi Gallery will help you organize your visit to the museum and your trip to Florence, Italy. Let me know with a comment how your experience was!