Uffizi smartphone app puts collection in context

Visitors to Florence's hugely popular Uffizi Gallery will soon be able to access information about the origins of the artworks contained in the collection on their mobile phones thanks to a project aiming to better contextualise the local cultural heritage. 'Le Vie degli Uffizi' ('The Roads of the Uffizi') is an initiative of local culture authorities, in conjunction with the cultural and environmental foundation Florens and digital technology provider Parallelo Sas. They have come up with a downloadable application providing information about the source of a given artwork, allowing the user to see it on a map and access other pertinent details such as artist and date. The same information will also be available on the websites of the Florence museums network and of the Florens Foundation. The aim is to contextualise the Uffizi collection, which was assembled by the powerful Medici family starting from the 16th century, and whose contents were largely originally destined for religious and civilian buildings in Florence and other parts of Tuscany. "The final aim is to broaden knowledge not just of the gallery's historic and artistic treasures but also of lesser-known parts of the city and of the Tuscan territory, giving value to all aspects, including traditions relating to food, agriculture and craftsmanship," say the organisers, adding that the project "is unprecedented in the value it puts on cultural and environmental heritage".