Botticelli Comes to the Minneapolis Institute of Art

Uffizi Galleries

One of the most comprehensive shows on Botticelli ever staged in the U.S. is coming to the Minneapolis Institute of Art this coming fall, according to a press release. It’s part of an exhibit that celebrates Renaissance Florence.

Starting Oct. 15 and running through Jan. 8, 2023, Botticelli and Renaissance Florence: Masterworks from the Uffizi will feature paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, decorative arts, and Roman marble statues. The goal is to “contextualize [Botticelli’s] works within the broader artistic and cultural climate of Renaissance Florence,” the release states.

Botticelli, a star of the Italian Renaissance, was known for large-scale pieces dealing in both the mythological and the secular. You probably know him best for The Birth of Venus and his three frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

“The presentation of such rare objects of extraordinary quality alone is sure to inspire wonder and delight,” Katie Luber, director and president of Mia, says in the release. “Following the extended period in which the pandemic limited the nature of international curatorial collaboration, the opportunity to bring wonderful works of art from the Uffizi to Minneapolis is nothing short of incredible.”

A dozen of Botticelli’s works will be on loan from the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, as part of 45 loans total. The Botticelli pieces include Minerva and the Centaur, painted for the Medici family in 1481, when the artist was at the peak of his career. Objects from Mia’s collection will also be interspersed throughout the exhibit.