Program highlights include:
• A lecture on the Medici family in Florence and the creation of the Uffizi Gallery.
• Unveiling of Alessandro Allori’s portrait of Ortensia dei Bardi di Montauto, a completed Friends of Florence restoration project, in the Church of San Piero Scheraggio.
• A visit to the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli gardens.
• A visit to the restoration laboratories of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure at the Fortezza da Basso.
• A day trip to Rome, which included: a visit to the Villa Medici and its gardens that were the home to the Niobe sculptural group for more than 200 years; a visit to Castel Sant’Angelo, once the mausoleum of Hadrian and later a fortress for the Popes, to view the Medici Papal Rooms; private visits to the Vatican Galleries and Sistine Chapel.
• A morning lecture on the development of architecture in Italy from the style of Arnolfo di Cambio to the Neo-Classical manifested in the Niobe Room of the Uffizi Gallery, followed by an architectural walk in Florence and visit to the Science Museum housing the Medici Collection of scientific instruments.
• A private visit to the Medici Collection in the National Archeological Museum.
• A visit to the Benozzo Gozzoli chapel in the Medici Riccardi Palace.
• A visit to the Medici apartments and collections in Palazzo Vecchio.
• A press conference for the completed Friends of Florence Niobe restoration project in the Uffizi, followed by the unveiling of the Niobe Room and a private visit to the Uffizi Gallery.