This photoset displays 10 pictures of my visit to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, for my class, Women, Art, and Culture in Italy. My class focused on the depiction of women in Italian Renaissance art as well as the impact Italian women artists had on Italian culture. With my class, we frequently visited museums and churches to give us the opportunity to see works of art in person and to immerse ourselves in the rich art environment. We would normally spend a couple of days in the classroom learning about artists or works of art and then take a trip to a museum or church to learn even more about the topics at hand. 

When prompted with this photoset, it was hard to choose just 10 pictures since I saw so much beautiful art during my time abroad. There was such a range of art, from pieces that resonated with me to art that impacted me because we discussed it during class. I was given the choice to display my study abroad journey as an art student through pictures I took from each museum during my time in Italy, but I decided to show my journey from the Uffizi because there were several works of art that I got to see in person that changed my life and were among the most memorable parts of my trip. 

For example, I got to see The Birth of Venus right in front of me—something I never thought I would be able to do. Now, whenever I look at the picture of me in front of it, I cry tears of joy because I had the opportunity to witness something so special and beautiful in person. I also chose to display my journey at the Uffizi because there were several works of art in the museum that my classmates and I had done projects on. My friend Lizzy and I had researched Venus of Urbino, and it was a really cool moment to share between the two of us as we connected over this work of art, we knew so much about. 

The photos in this set show my time in the Uffizi from beginning to end, with pictures of me and my classmates as we enjoyed this once-in-a-lifetime chance to explore and learn in a museum that holds artifacts of the Italian Renaissance. 

This is The Coronation of the Virgin by Lorenzo Monaco from around 1414. It was one of the first pieces we saw when we began our journey through the Uffizi and resonated with our class because we frequently discussed the topic of Mary and Jesus.

This is a picture of my friend Lizzy and me posing in front of The Duke and Duchess of Urbino (Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza) by Piero della Francesca from around 1473-1475. This is one of my favorite pictures from this trip because we talked about this piece a lot during class, and you can see how excited we were to have fun and pose in front of such an important piece of art. 

This piece of art is Spring (Primavera) by Sandro Botticelli from around 1480. This was another work of art we focused on in class because we talked a lot about Venus, who is seen standing in the middle of the painting. 

Here I am standing in front of one of my all-time favorite pieces, The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli from around 1485. I did a project on this piece for my Women, Art, and Culture in Italy class and couldn’t have been happier to be standing in front of it! 

This is my friend Collett and me standing in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s unfinished painting, Adoration of the Magi, from around 1482. Collett and I had attended an optional seminar the day prior on The Art of Business: Renaissance Marketing Strategies, where the presenter talked about this piece, so it was a splendid surprise seeing it in person! 

This is a picture of The Doni Tondo (The Holy Family) by Michelangelo Buonarroti from around 1505-1506. This was significant to us because we talked a lot about Tondos, which were usually used to celebrate the birth of a child—in this case, Jesus. 

I just love this picture of my friend Lizzy on the roof of the Uffizi with the beautiful Palazzo Vecchio in the background. We were about halfway through our time at the Uffizi, and she just looks so happy and excited to be there!

This is a picture of Antonio Manzi’s self-portrait from 2018. His work didn’t align with our course at all, but it's still a prime example of the variety of art that the Uffizi houses. 

This is a portrait of Eleonora di Toledo with her son Giovanni, painted by Bronzino in 1545. Eleonora was significant to our course because she was a noblewoman married to Cosimo de’ Medici and commissioned a lot of artwork during the Renaissance. 

This was one of our last stops in the Uffizi, in front of Venus of Urbino by Titian from 1538. We both researched this painting for our project on nude women in the Renaissance. I just loved being able to connect with paintings from class and seeing them on display in a museum—especially the Uffizi!