Uffizi director guided a tour for the disabled

FLORENCE, ITALY – Uffizi director Eike Schmidt will personally guide a tour for disabled visitors.

It was the first of a series of free events for the disabled and will include a tactile tour of Classical sculptures and three-dimensional copies of famous paintings – such as Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus – for the blind.

Florence authorities have set up a program for the blind across several museums, in which they can don special gloves and get to know sculptures and other artworks by touching them.

Schmidt, a German art historian, was appointed to head the famous Florence museum last year.