The Uffizi tells the story of black presence in the Renaissance

Black Presence is the title of the new project presented by the Uffizi Galleries that tells the presence of black culture in the European Renaissance. The project will develop around a series of works kept inside the Uffizi in which black characters play a central role and will see the publication of educational videos on TikTok and Facebook every Saturday in which will tell the diversity of Renaissance society starting from each of these masterpieces. The official launch of the initiative took place on July 4th, on the occasion of the American Independence Day, with a live broadcast on Tik Tok starring Justin Randolph Thompson, director of the cultural network @black.history.month.florence followed by a performance by the singer-songwriter Gabin Dabiré in front of the painting Perseus that frees Andromeda by Piero di Cosimo. 

Eike Schmidt, the curator of the Uffizi, explained the initiative with these words:

«The Uffizi is not some ivory tower of art; in fact, its collections address the major issues of our contemporary world. Through art, the museum can tell the great story of the past while also bringing the artworks to life in the present, because its masterpieces speak a universal language».

With its social media-based structure, Black Presence is a spin-off of the digital research project On Being Present that takes its cue from the marginalization of black characters in the works of art created by the current historical framing that orients the visitor's path through the halls of the museum. In addition to confirming the existence of diversity within the ancient Renaissance society, in fact, the subjects represented in these works demonstrate the existence of lively cultural exchanges between different cultures and ethnicities that occurred during the Renaissance.

Among some of the works that will be explored through the educational videos of Black Presence, in addition to the paintings of Dr Cristofano of the Highest and Justus Suttermans, there will also be the portrait of Alessandro de' Medici, son of that Cardinal Giulio de' Medici who ended up becoming Pope and a servant known as Simonetta da Collavecchio who became the first head of state of African ethnicity to govern in the history of Europe.