Uffizi of the Sea in Livorno, protocol between museum and municipality under study

A memorandum of understanding between the Municipality of Livorno, the Uffizi Galleries, the Region of Tuscany and the Superintendence of Pisa and Livorno is being studied that will define the terms of collaboration between the four institutions and guide the future strategic actions of the Uffizi del Mare project at the Coral Baths. This was decided during a meeting in Livorno City Hall. The meeting was attended by Mayor Luca Salvetti, City Councillor for Culture Simone Lenzi and Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt. The memorandum of understanding, currently being drafted, could be signed around mid-June.

On July 21, the work site was officially opened for the start of the restoration and re-functionalization of the mescita pavilion and the central garden of the Coral Baths, at which the highest officials of the Municipality of Livorno, the Region of Tuscany and the Uffizi were present. The executive project of the first functional lot had been approved in April 2021. The work was awarded in February 2022 and was delivered on June 27 and is expected to be completed within a year. As part of the Periphery Call for Proposals, under DPCM 25 2016, a first functional intervention lot was bid for (and funded), for a total amount of 2,200,000.00 euros. The idea was to start with this first restoration project and then continue gradually, given the vastness of the complex, in the recovery of both structures and open spaces.

The memorandum of understanding is to have a guiding value with the aim of directing the strategic actions that will lead to the creation of the Uffizi del Mare (as part of the Uffizi Diffusi project) in the restored structure of the Terme del Corallo.

“Thanks to the signing of the protocol currently being elaborated,” said Mayor Luca Salvetti, “the Uffizi al Mare project will definitely take shape and one of the city’s symbolic places will come back to life. The path began last summer with the start of the restoration of the Baths and is continuing according to the pre-established plans, all within an overall project for the revaluation of the part of the city between the baths, the station and the Cisternone. This corner of Leghorn will become very attractive for Leghorn citizens and tourists.”

“The synergy between the Administration, the Uffizi, the Region and the Superintendence adds a piece,” specified Culture Councillor Simone Lenzi, “to the Uffizi al Mare project, a future exhibition space located in the splendid Art Nouveau setting of the Terme del Corallo. A place that will become the fulcrum of Livorno’s cultural activity, a crossroads for tourists and a dignified and appropriate gateway to a city like Livorno, which will enhance its artistic and urban aspect.”

“Once it’s been established that the Terme overpass will be knocked down, now it’s finally possible to knock down the project of the Uffizi spread,” jokes Florentine museum director Eike Schmidt. “The Uffizi al Mare will be a fundamental cornerstone of our program to spread art throughout the territory: a place as important as Livorno itself was as the Grand Duchy’s gateway to the world by sea in Medici times.”

Image: the Coral Baths. Photo: FAI

Uffizi of the Sea in Livorno, protocol between museum and municipality under study

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