Tribune

The octagonal room called Tribuna (Tribune) was commissioned by Francesco I, son of Cosimo I de' Medici and completed round 1584 by the architect Bernardo Buontalenti

Francesco wanted this special room inside the Uffizi in order to display his most precious belongings: paintings, jewels, coins etc.

In a sense, the Tribuna was already a  "museum" many years before the Uffizi building was officially transformed into a Gallery.

Apart from the paintings, furniture and statues still visible inside the Tribuna  nowadays - among which the delicate Venere Medici (I century A.D.) -  the room itself can be considered a work of art with its incredible dome encrusted with thousands of precious shells, its walls "dressed" in red velvet and its marble floor: admiring it is no doubt a breathtaking experience!