The Golden Strides

Via dei Georgofili is accessed from the arch on the right side of Piazzale degli Uffizi. Here, on the night of May 27, 1993, the city of Florence was hit by a terrible mafia attack. Five people were killed in the bombing and several people were injured, while extensive damage was also caused to the architectural, historical and artistic heritage of the surrounding area. To transform this tragic and horrific event into a lesson of hope and life, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the attack in 2013, the Uffizi Galleries commissioned this sculpture from Roberto Barni. Suspended about 20 meters above ground level on the left side of the street facing the Arno River, Barni's slender figure, shining with reflections, is striking and charming, resembling an angel or ethereal visitor who has just left of the Gallery and is walking lightly but decisively while carrying five other figures on his body.

The artist described his work like this: “From the first moment [...] I knew that I wanted to create a work that, instead of simply remembering those who are no longer with us, evokes them in life. I imagined a figure capable of bringing them back among us. A figure suspended above that seems to emanate from this historic place, a place that also suffered injuries. A figure that represents art and its perennial attempt to overcome tragedy in an act of existence. [...] I wanted to use immortal materials like bronze, but especially gold whose light drives away shadows. I thought that, above a sword that symbolizes death, there should be a figure, like Victory or Nike, carrying the five golden figures along with their decisive step, remembering these human beings in the prime of life, in their homes, walking through its streets. [...] A figure that symbolizes art, whose wanderings are constantly driven by the desire to continue his journey, who has unexpectedly found himself here on the highest wall of one of the most important places in the world threatened by barbarism " (R. Barni, in the brochure printed to mark the presentation of the sculpture, 2013).