By: Mia David

On October 16th, 2022, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) opened a new art museum called the Boticelli and Renaissance Florence: Masterworks from the Uffizi.

The Mia is fortunate to be the only stop for this exhibit and to feature artworks that have never left Italy until now. The display contains remarkable paintings, sculptures, and prints portraying biblical stories and Greek and Roman characters. This exhibit is the largest Botticelli and Renaissance exhibit in the US ever.

The main attractions in the exhibit are the works done by Sandro Botticelli from the late 1400s and early 1500s. He is known for how he changed the perspective on myths and legends in Italy at the time. His popularity allowed him to paint three frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

This exhibit is the first time Mia has worked with the Uffizi gallery. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, occupies a building built between 1560 and 1580. It is well known for its famous sculptures and paintings from throughout history.

This exhibition was curated to reflect the different art forms from this time period. There are statues, plaques, multiple paintings in different shapes and sizes, and even a chest with images portrayed on the outside.

Walking into the exhibit, you are immediately met with Boticelli’s famous painting ‘Pallas and the Centaur, which is one of the main attractions of this exhibit. It is a tempera painting on canvas that spans 207 x 148 cm.

This exhibit also contains sketches or drawings of people and portraits that line the walls. There are pieces based on Greek mythology, like a statue of a centaur and a relief sculpture of three Greek women. To complement these Greek pieces, many biblical stories are reflected in the art. There is a long panel of paintings representing the telling of the virgin Mary and a sculpture of Saint John the Baptist.

This exhibit will be open until January 8th, 2023. Tickets can be purchased online for $20 or free for anyone 17 and under.