Florence, tech mogul Elon Musk makes surprise visit to Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi

South African technology magnate Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, Space X and Neuralink and known for his visionary ideas, indulged in some museum visits in Florence. Musk, accompanied by his partner, Canadian musician Grimes (real name Claire Boucher), and some members of his family with whom he is traveling in Italy, first visited Palazzo Vecchio: escorting Musk and companions on a private visit was the mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, who posted a video on his social channels in the company of the entrepreneur to welcome him (“Welcome to Florence Elon Musk and Grimes: your presence inspires us for the future of Florence and the whole world”), while Musk urges the public to go to the Tuscan capital (“Visit Florence,” he says smiling in the short clip).

After that, the group moved to the Uffizi, where they were welcomed to the museum by director Eike Schmidt, who led Musk, Grimes and relatives on a tour of the Uffizi’s works. Also present during the meeting was Fabrizio Moretti, a member of the scientific committee of the Uffizi Galleries. Over an hour and a half was the duration of their stay in the museum: the Uffizi staff reports that Musk and Grimes asked the director many questions about the works, even taking selfies in front of various works. The two especially appreciated Beato Angelico’s Thebaid and Glorification of the Virgin, Paolo Uccello’s Battle of San Romano, Piero della Francesca’s Portrait of the Dukes of Montefeltro, and the masterpieces in the halls of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Botticelli, within which the group indulged in a collective photo in front of Venus, along with Eike Schmidt and Fabrizio Moretti.

A curiosity: Musk also paused to see in detail the ancient Roman sculpture of the dying Alexander’s head in the Michelangelo room. “When you set up a space station on Mars, we’d like to bring us some works for our Uffizi diffuse project,” joked Director Schmidt. Below is a group photo of the meeting.

Florence, tech mogul Elon Musk makes surprise visit to Palazzo Vecchio and Uffizi

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