Uffizi Galleries reopen restored Lorena Staircase after eight years

After eight years of closure for structural works, the Lorena Staircase at the Uffizi Galleries has reopened to visitors in Florence.

The staircase is the historic monumental entrance to the exhibition route and has been carefully reinstalled to reflect its appearance in 1769, when Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine opened the gallery to the general public on 24 June, the feast of Saint John, Florence’s patron saint. At the time, the move placed the Uffizi among the first museums in the world to take on a modern public function.

A neoclassical entrance

The staircase was designed by Zanobi del Rosso, architect to the Lorraine court, and is considered a significant example of late 18th-century neoclassical architecture in Florence.

At the entrance, visitors can once again see the Latin inscription dedicated to Pietro Leopoldo, recalling his reorganisation and expansion of the former Medici collections. Above the inscription stands an 18th-century bust of the grand duke by sculptor Francesco Carradori.

At the top of the staircase, newly reinstalled busts of the Medici grand dukes — the dynasty that founded and enlarged the gallery — are displayed on large wooden supports. A large polychrome wooden coat of arms by Baccio d’Agnolodominates the marble decoration from above.

Structural consolidation completed

The Lorena Staircase had not been visible since 2018, when engineers identified the need to consolidate and restore the wooden structural elements supporting its vaults. The intervention, completed in recent weeks, focused on stabilising and reinforcing the internal wooden framework.

An earlier restoration campaign between 2005 and 2007 had addressed plasterwork, stucco and decorative elements. During that phase, the walls were repainted in the so-called “Lorena green”, based on stratigraphic tests that revealed the original colour chosen by the Lorraine rulers and used in other parts of the complex.

The reopening of the staircase marks the closure of another long-running construction site at the Uffizi. In recent months, the museum has also reopened the Vasari Corridor and removed a large crane that had stood in the square outside the complex for nearly two decades.

For visitors, the restored staircase once again becomes the ceremonial gateway to the museum’s galleries and a reminder of the moment in the 18th century when Florence transformed a dynastic collection into a public institution.

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