The Uffizi in Florence has launched a multimedia project to allow visitors to “dive” into a virtual tour of the Museum without leaving home
Museums are closed, but culture hasn’t stopped. In recent months, the Coronavirus emergency has imposed a hard stop to exhibitions and to the art world in general. Many museums, art galleries, academies and conservatories, however, have responded to the crisis by launching interesting initiatives to enhance their cultural heritage through new technologies. The most interesting “proposals” are those that use Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality to bring to life immersive experiences. Back in March, for example, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence launched the #UffiziDecameron campaign to keep art lovers who had stayed at home company. The name of the initiative is obviously a tribute to Boccaccio. In his Decameron, ten young people escape the contagion of the black plague of 1348 by taking refuge in a villa on the hills above Florence. And, to fight boredom, every day, they tell a story. Inspired by Boccaccio’s work, the creators of #UffiziDecameron wanted to transform the Florentine museum into a sort of “virtual refuge” by publishing every day photos, videos and stories dedicated to the masterpieces kept in the Gallery of Statues and Paintings, in Palazzo Pitti and in the Boboli Gardens.
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Visit the Uffizi in a virtual tour
Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt explained the meaning of the initiative. “Even if museums had to close their doors, art does not stop. As in Boccaccio’s masterpiece, every day we offer a story, a tale, a work, a character from our beautiful museums, uniting us in the name of culture, art and – why not – entertainment. The Uffizi are with you, in your homes, to overcome together the current difficult moment. Let’s avoid any contagion, except that of beauty”. As part of #UffiziDecameron, the initiative “My Room” was also launched: a series of “virtual mini-tours” during which museum assistants led internet users to discover the most evocative corners of the Galleries, revealing the secrets of some of the most famous works in the world.
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