FLORENCE, ITALY – The Uffizi has opened a dedicated path for the blind, with 16 sculptures “readable” with hands. The new path, called “Uffizi by touching”, is completely free for blind people or visually impaired.
They will have the opportunity to touch a series of statues that belonged to the Medici collection chosen for their historical and artistic significance. It will be possibile thanks to special gloves provided on site.
Among these masterpieces, the Sleeping Cupid, the Hermaphrodite, some sarcophagi, La Lupa, etc. The choice made by the manager of the Uffizi gallery is to use actual real works, not reproductions in plaster as in other museums all around the world. Furthermore, the blind can touch the replica of “The Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli.
Each work is associated with a description in Braille, in Italian and English. According to the Superintendent of the Florentine Museums, Cristina Acidini, “the activation of the project marks a further step in the path of making accessible to a wider audience the masterpieces of Florence.”