Lecture Access

This lecture will be available to view until 3 August 2026

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OVERVIEW

Watch on Demand | Online Lecture


Housed in a Renaissance building designed by Giorgio Vasari, the Uffizi functions as both anarchitectural landmark and a meticulously curated collection driven by dynastic ambitions. 

Its galleries mirror the Medici's values and political goals, using art to demonstrate their authority, enhance their prestige, and establish Florence as a cultural hub.

Paintings and sculptures from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries showcase innovative approaches to space, anatomy, movement, and emotional expression. Artists combined classical knowledge with Christian themes, creating works that blend idealisation with realism. Variations in style, materials, and techniques highlight experimentation, rivalry, and evolving expectations between patrons and artists.

Rather than functioning solely as a repository of masterpieces, the Uffizi emerged as a visual expression of Medici identity, connecting artistic achievement with political authority. The collection demonstrates how power was conveyed through the choices of display, selection, and storytelling, embedding Renaissance art within larger frameworks of governance and representation.

In this lecture, Kate Bolton-Porciatti examines how Medici patronage shaped the Renaissance collections of the Uffizi.

LECTURER

Biography

Kate Bolton-Porciatti (MPhil.) is a professor of Italian cultural history at the Istituto Lorenzo de’Medici in Florence, where she teaches BA and MA courses in the humanities. She also lectures regularly at the British Institute, Florence, and at the Chigiana Academy in Siena. Before moving to Italy permanently in 2005, she was a senior producer and broadcaster for BBC Arts & Classical Music in London and has won prestigious Jerusalem and Sony Awards for her programs. She has published extensively as an academic, a critic and a journalist. Her MPhil thesis set the music of early 15th-century Florence in its social and cultural context.

Kate Bolton-Porciatti

Cultural Historian