Florence's Uffizi Gallery discovers lost frescoes during COVID closures

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence used the winter COVID shutdown to push ahead with renovations, discovering lost frescoes that will greet visitors when the leading repository of Italian Renaissance art reopens on May 4.

Uffizi director Eike Schmidt said the six months of closure were put to good use: Renovating 14 new rooms that will open to the public next month, and discovering frescoes that would otherwise have remained hidden. But he hopes that the most recent reopening — the third during the pandemic — will be the last.