The Palatine Gallery and the Royal Apartments occupy the whole of Palazzo Pitti’s piano nobile. The gallery was established in the late 18th and early 19th centuries by the Lorraine, who hung a mass of artworks, principally from the Medici collections begun around 1620, in the reception rooms. There are works by Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Rubens, Pietro da Cortona and other Renaissance and 17th-century artists from Italy and elsewhere in Europe.
The walls of the rooms are plastered with paintings, in keeping with the tradition of 17th-century picture galleries: they are not arranged chronologically or by school, but reflect the personal taste of the collectors. There is a fine Madonna and Child by Filippo Lippi, some of Raphael’s most famous paintings, including the so-called Madonna del Granduca and La Velata, a Young Saint John the Baptist by Andrea del Sarto, Titian’s La Bella and portraits by Veronese and Tintoretto.
The Royal Apartments consist of fourteen rooms in the right wing of the palace, formerly the private residence of the ruling families, and are furnished with furniture, trappings and artworks ranging from the 16th to 19th centuries.
Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Reali - Palazzo Pitti
Piazza de' Pitti, 50125 Firenze FI, Italia
The Palatine Gallery is located on the first floor of Palazzo Pitti. Access is possible by the main stairs on the right of the Cortile dell'Ammannati, made of four ramps, 69 steps, or by the elevators. People with reduced mobility are advised to take the elevators (two), whose access is from the courtyard on the right, next to the cloakroom. The doors of the elevator are about 90 cm/3 ft. Once on the floor, a short corridor leads direct to the Sala Bianca of the Galleria Palatina. To help us welcome people with motor disabilities at our best, please contact the staff on the ground floor, they will call the operators in the Gallery and let them know that visitors are arriving by the elevator.
The Galleria Palatina and the Appartamenti Reali e Imperiali are fully accessible; some glass doors with push-pull opening may be opened with the help of the staff. From the Sala della Stufa to the Atrio dello Scalone del Moro access is through a door, with a step of 4 cm/1,5 in and a door of 88 cm/2,9 ft. Another door (150 cm/4,9 ft width, threshold of 2 cm/0,8 in) leads to the Sala dell’Iliade.
The Appartamenti Reali e Imperiali are all connected by doors with a threshold that measures 1 cm/0,4 in in height. Three exhibition rooms, Camera del Re, Studio del Re and Salone Rosso are also part of the Museum (they are not always open to the public). Between the Camera del Re and the Studio del Re, the floor has a slope with a gradient up to 8%.
The Galleria Palatina is not equipped with toilets.
At the entrance, a Museum tactile map is available.
For information, please contact the Accessibility and Inclusion Department by calling +39 055 2388617, Monday – Friday 9:30am-4:30pm. uffiziaccessibili@cultura.gov.it ; www.uffizi.it/en/ts/accessibility
