Supersizing the Uffizi?

World Heritage attractions such as Rome's Colosseum and the preserved city of Pompeii will be made to pay their own way under a radical reform of Italy's cultural heritage.

Mario Resca, who worked for McDonald's for 15 years and was head of the fast food chain's operations in Italy, will this week start injecting the dusty world of museum curators with some 21st century business savvy.

His appointment as director general of museums and archeological sites is highly controversial and has raised fears among Italy's cultural guardians that he will seek to "McDonaldise" the country's treasures during his three year stint in the top job.

From the Telegraph. I don't know how this appointment will turn out, but I don't think anyone will argue that the status quo is acceptable. Commercialization of cultural assets may be distasteful, but at least should be reversible -- unlike the present alternative, which is neglect leading to widespread deterioration, theft, and vandalism. I'm not encouraged by this statement, though:

The former fast food manager said it was a huge failure that Italy's most visited museum, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, attracted 1.5 million visitors a year when the British Museum in London pulls in close to six million.

But according to its Wikipedia entry, the BM currently boasts

over 75,000 m² of exhibition space, showcasing approximately 50,000 items from its collection. There are nearly one hundred galleries open to the public, representing 2 miles (3.2 km) of exhibition space

Whereas the Guardian reported back in 2004 about the Uffizi:

The overall increase in exhibition space will be from 6,000sq metres to almost 13,000.

So on a per-area basis, the Uffizi is handily outdoing the BM -- which is obvious to anyone who's spent any time in them (though the prospect of the already-overcrowded Uffizi crammed with four times as many visitors is truly appalling).

Incidentally, I've not been able to reach the Nuovi Uffizi site, so I'm not sure the current status of the Uffizi expansion. How many of those 13,000 square meters are currently open?

Posted by David on December 2, 2008 9:39 AM