FLORENCE – The Uffizi Galleries, the most-visited museum in Italy, is open after three months of COVID-19 lockdown, delighting art lovers who don’t have to jostle with throngs of tourists thanks to new social distancing rules.
Uffizi director Eike Schmidt told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the government-ordered closure of museums during coronavirus containment measures meant 1 million fewer visitors and 12 million euros ($13.2 million) in less revenue for that period.
Now, at most 450 people at one time are allowed in the Uffizi’s many galleries, chock full of some of the art world’s greatest masterpieces.
That means visitors no longer have to elbow their way to admire such masterpieces as Botticelli's “Birth of Venus." First in