Uffizi, in 2022 more than 4 million visitors and historic record of takings

A memorable 2022 for the Uffizi Galleries: in fact, the complex’s museums recorded more than 4 million visitors, more than double the number in 2021 (when there were about 1.7 million), and 300,000 less than the all-time high, about 4.4 million, reached in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. In addition, the Florentine museum sets an all-time record for receipts, thanks in part to about 2 million that arrived from exhibitions organized abroad: more than 35 million, a million more again than in 2019, when it was just over 34.

These are some of the most significant numbers in the balance of the activity put in place by the Uffizi Galleries in 2022. A year in which Florence’s main museum complex has returned to considerable growth. “After suffering through the pandemic with more than 40 million in lost revenue, in 2022 we are almost back to pre-pandemic levels, and thanks to the diversification of revenue streams we have achieved the highest ever for the Galleries.”, explains the director of the Uffizi Galleries, Eike Schmidt, "an achievement necessary to be able to resume at full speed extraordinary maintenance and the protection and enhancement activities that were partly slowed down during the pandemic due to funding shortages. We are perfectly positioned to reach new goals, both on the visitation and revenue fronts, in the year that has just begun."

Let’s look at the numbers in detail. There were a total of 4,066,366 admissions to the three Galleries spaces (Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, Boboli Gardens): an increase of +136.2 percent compared to 2021 (1,721,637), and only -7.4 percent compared to the record year 2019 (when there were 4,391,861). To the Uffizi Gallery 2,222,692 people went (+129.22%), to the Pitti Palace 650,612 (171.87%), to the Boboli Gardens 1,193,062 (132.73%).

Interesting are the fruits of deseasonalization pursued through pricing policies that raise the price in spring-summer and lower it in fall-winter: 2022 showed slightly declining numbers for spring (-1.3% and -1.7% on May and June compared to 2019), moderate growth in summer (+3.3%, +3.1% and +1.1% in July, August and September, again compared to 2019) and strong growth in fall and winter-winter (+5.2% and +10.7% on November and December). It should also be considered that the numbers for the first two months of 2022 were still marred by the aftermath of Covid (they were 39.1% and 34% lower than in 2019).

In terms of revenue, 2022 at the Galleries was the best year ever for receipts: an impressive 35,030,387 euros, +2.7% compared to the previous high, reached in 2019 with 34,097,744 euros. From ticketing came 28,638,111 euros (+142.6% compared to 2021), exhibitions and loans abroad yielded almost two million, 1,921,726 euros, 1,050,000 the amount of donations. Direct income (image rights, space rental for events and filming, etc.) was 1,322,803, indirect income (royalties and fixed fees) 2,097,747.

But there are more than just ticket and revenue numbers: the Uffizi confirmed itself as a very active museum on protection, with 164 restorations of works (86 more than in 2021), including Domenico Veneziano’sSanta Lucia de’ Magnoli Alt arpiece and Andrea del Verrocchio’s Macinghi Altarpiece (both by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure). On the other hand, there were 126 renovations and architectural designs; one million euros donated through Friends of the Uffizi and Friends of the Uffizi Galleries by U.S. philanthropist Veronica Atkins to carry out the restoration of the Sala di Bona in the Pitti Palace and the Medici cycle of Valois Tapestries; the complete restoration of the Royal Uffizi Post Office and the Magliabechiana Library (with new LED lighting); in the Boboli Gardens, the restoration of the Kaffeehaus (composed, in addition to the cafeteria, of the garden, terraces and panoramic belvedere), the Camellia Garden, the conclusion of the restoration of the Viale dei Montaccini with its adjoining fountain (restored with eco-sustainable solutions), which now allow the reopening to the public; the conclusion of the first part of the work in the Giardino dei Principi; and the new signage (40 poles, 173 arrows, 118 signs with maps and info).

As for exhibitions, 26 were organized in 2022: 10 at the Galleries, with a strong emphasis on contemporary art: from Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen’s fantastical creatures scattered among the museum’s masterpieces, to the first solo exhibition in Italy by Sammy Baloji whose site-specific works enriched the rooms of the Andito degli Angiolini, Palazzo Pitti, in a weave of motifs and narratives drawn from objects that came from the “Kongo Kingdoms,” to the exhibition Per Dafne e le Altre on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in which Elisa Montessori’s photographs retrace the Ovidian myth in a modern key. Among the 16 off-site exhibitions are major national and international initiatives (from Miramare Castle to Minneapolis to Shanghai), but also 13 transfers that are part of the Uffizi Diffusi initiative, including 8 within the “Terre degli Uffizi” organized together with the Fondazione CR Firenze(Uffizi Diffusi in Monsummamo Terme, Casole d’Elsa, Portoferraio, Lucca, Pietrasanta; Terre degli Uffizi in San Casciano, San Giovanni Valdarno, Poppi, Arezzo, Scarperia/San Piero a Sieve, Anghiari, Montespertoli, Cascia).

The artistic patrimony of the Galleries was also enriched thanks to 75 donations of works (noteworthy are the portrait of Gaetano Berenstadt by Giovacchino Fortini, the Ascension of Christ by Maso da San Friano donated by the Freinds of Uffizi Galleries, and finally Ubuntu by theBelgian artist Koen Vanmechelen; 288 purchases (of note, the portrait of Count Lucini imprisoned by Francesco Hayez (1828), the sculpture of a male head from the second half of the 1st cent. BC, and Camillo Mainardi’s ’Amore Castigato’ where Mars flogs Love pursued by a Fury for a total of 363 new works of art including drawings, paintings and sculptures.

As for prizes, numerous international and national awards were collected by the museum last year. They include the Aretè Award for Digital Humanities (19th edition), the award of Progetto Valore from SDA Bocconi School of Management for the Uffizi for All initiative , to which is added the Quality Choice Award thanks to the European Society for Quality Research assigned to those who promote and spread quality and innovation in the services and performance of companies and public administrations.

On the digital communication front, there are more than one million followers of the Uffizi on all social platforms: to be exact, 1,087,000 (Instagram 732,586, 67 percent of the total; Facebook 142,636, 14 percent; Tik Tok 141,300, 13 percent; Twitter 70,478, 6 percent). The Galleries’ Instagram profile grows by 7.48% over 2021; Twitter users increase by 20.77%, Facebook users by 12.6%, and TikTok expands its audience by 46.57%. On the museum’s website, www.uffizi.it, there were 15,567,375 (+16.8%) views in 2022 from a total of 2,712,476 users (+13%). 4 were new virtual exhibitions published during the year.

The Uffizi also confirmed itself as a research museum: 44 was the number of lectures organized as part of the Wednesday Dialogues of Art and Culture event; 10 were the publications of volumes (3.365 pages total, of which 761 were in English), 4 study days (one on the creation of the 3D digital twin of Palazzo Pitti, one to discuss the experiences for a culture of accessibility from the museum to the territory organized on the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, one dedicated to the International Day of Autism Awareness, and a last one entitled Acting Culture in the context of active participation in cultural heritage and mental well-being in adolescence) and 4 special meetings (including Fragments of Interlaced Dialogues with Sammy Baloji in conversation with Eike Schmidt and Lucrezia Cippitelli, the lecture Rubens in Pitti. A Painting Against War by Marco Collareta, Natascia Gazzana’s violin concert paying tribute to Andrei Tarkovsky’s 90th birthday, and finally Franco Cardini’s lecture Disenchanting War).

In terms of educational and accessibility activities,there were 60 in-person visits for families to the museum, with a total of 1,253 participants; with the Ambassadors for Art project, a pathway for high schools, 39 classes were involved, for a total of 858 students and 336 lectures. There were 82 internships carried out in collaboration with universities and other entities. As for the area of events dedicated to accessibility and cultural mediation, there were 78, including guided tours and educational activities, with a total of 1,104 participants. Finally, there were 4,752 articles dedicated worldwide to the Galleries by many national and international newspapers, and 1,169 were television and radio reports.

Uffizi, in 2022 more than 4 million visitors and historic record of takings

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