Maps of Renaissance Tuscany on show for first time in 20 years | Italy

Maps depicting Renaissance Tuscany are again on show on the Uffizi Galleries in Florence after being hidden from public view for greater than 20 years.

The wall work have been commissioned in the late 1500s by Ferdinando I de’ Medici after the republic of Florence’s conquering of its rival Siena led to the creation the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and depict the newly unified territory.

Greater than 1,200 cities and cities, whose names are written in gold, are featured in the three maps designed by cartographer Stefano Bonsignori and painted by Ludovico Buti. The maps have been the first large-scale illustration of Tuscany and are displayed in the museum’s “corridor of the geographical maps”, the place Italian director Dario Argento shot a scene from his 1996 movie The Stendhal Syndrome concerning the mysterious sickness thought to strike guests to Florence after they grow to be overwhelmed by the wonder of town’s inventive masterpieces.

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One wall depicts the map of the Florence territory, whereas one other depicts Siena. A 3rd wall includes a map of Elba Island off the Tuscan coast.

The room additionally incorporates an enormous window from the place guests can get a fowl’s eye view over the panorama of present-day Florence, together with Palazzo Vecchio and the basilicas of Santa Croce and San Miniato al Monte.

The restoration of the maps, which can open on Tuesday for a most of 20 guests at a time, value €700,000 (£600,000).

“Even the smallest and most distant cities are elegantly written in gold and are sometimes accompanied by the first recognized pictorial illustration of the assorted places,” mentioned Eike Schmidt, the director of the Uffizi Galleries. “The inhabitants of the [Tuscan] area will be capable of recognise locations they love in these giant maps.”