Should we sign up for a private tour for the Uffizi Gallery and Academia

I’ve never regretted spending money for a quality guide. Given the total cost of your long trip in Italy, the cost of a guide or two will be a rounding error.

Perhaps one tour, in whichever of those museums you hit first, would be sufficient to give you all enough background to better appreciate the art? I know such tours are expensive.

If your/their public library offers access to Kanopy's videos, you will probably find one or more good series on art history that can be watched for free. Even watching a few lessons would be helpful. There may be some worthwhile things on YouTube, also.

It sounds like you need a guide for the Uffizi. Presumably you will be going to L’Accademia
to Michelangelo’s “David., an incredible work of art. I have been three times and focused on “David” and the few pieces of art I passed walking there. Read the book by Irving Stone, “The Agony and the Ecstacy” an easy way to learn about Michelangelo. You won’t need a guide for David if you read about “him”in advance. Guide books should have what you need. On one of my visits a doctor was there and marveled at how the artist correctly sculpted the human body, muscles, veins etc.
We took all our teenage grandchildren and they were awestruck by “David.”

Thank you all so much. Based on these comments I think I'll sign us up for a tour of the Ufizzi and read more about Michelangelo prior to travel. And yes Suki, you nailed it. I want to take the kids to see David. I had seen David some 30 years ago and still remember also being awestruck.

I'll take a different approach and encourage your people to do some research before they go. They are plenty old enough to do so, and I wouldn't spend the $$ on a guide if they show little interest in the subject?

LOL, I'll also say that Mike's "David" was not one of my personal faves of Florence's Renaissance treasures, nor my favorite of the 4 most famous Davids: Michelangelo, Donatello, Verrocchio, Bernini. Mine is the Bernini in Rome. We're all different, and that's part of the fun!

But here's another perspective? A favorite thing to do is to find the paintings which picture the people of the era as they would have been dressed at that time. An outstanding example is the Sassetti Chapel in Florence's Santa Trinita. The artist of the frescoes, Domenico Ghirlandaio, painted his contemporaries as they really looked, warts and all. They are wearing the shoes, robes and hairstyles of the time. Lorenzo (The Magnificent) de Medici and his sons appear in the one of the scenes, and there are some glimpses of a long-ago Florence in the backgrounds. It's those sorts of details that bring art to life for me.

Oh, and bonus? Santa Trinita is free for the looking. :O)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassetti_Chapel

Thanks Kathy!

You're welcome, Patrick, and I see now that I sort of sort of didn't finish my thought; apologies!

The reason I recommended this particular church is that sometimes newbies to art do better digesting small bites (San Trinita) versus the 8 course meal (Uffizi). Let's just say that their eyes don't start crossing at about, oh, room # 15? HA! The Uffizi and Pitti (Palatine Gallery) are both a LOT to digest, and you don't want to kill the interest before it has barely begun, eh? Also, if you hit the freebies and your tribe isn't connecting, you're not out any $$. One more little plus? Seeing some of the art in situ, in the place it was created for, can give it some context.

So another excellent free venue for free frescoes by some of the heavy-hitters of the Renaissance is Basilica Santissima Annunziata. The frescoes in the entry cloister are wonderful, and it's an interesting church besides.
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-churches/santissima-annunziata.html
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Santissima-Annunziata.html (for more pix)

The piazza it sits on is also a Florentine treasure; check out the famous, tender Della Robbia tondos on the facade of Brunelleschi's Ospedale degli Innocenti (now a museum):
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/piazza-ss-annunziata.html
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/innocenti-museum.html

'Round the corner from this piazza is Museum San Marco; an interesting piece of history, and you can admire Fra' Angelico's "Annunciation" plus more of his frescoes on the walls the monks' cells where he and his assistants painted them. History? Savanarola's cell is here too as well as one created specifically for Cosimo the Elder de' Medici. While not free, it's another approachable, easily digested venue.
https://portraitofasometimeslady.com/2020/05/18/san-marco-cells/
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/san-marco.html
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/museum_of_san_marco.html
https://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/uffizi/default_eng.aspx.html (hours and ticketing info)

And there are more! So I won't say to skip the mighty Uffizi, but that there are some other ways of engaging your young folks in the marvels of Renaissance art if it might work better for them? Oh, and architecture as well!

Thank you so much Kathy! Appreciate all the links as well.

Personally, I have been overwhelmed every time I have visited the Uffizi, 3 or 4 times over many years. One of the reasons was often that on-going renovations meant some famous paintings were temporarily relocated to different rooms, and I had trouble finding them. Also, just so many, many rooms and paintings.
Since it sounds like you will be a group of 5, you might be better off arranging for a private guide than joining a group requiring 5 individual fees. A good private guide could likely adapt the tour to suit your teenagers, and you could provide information about any special interests of your family that might lead toward particular works in the museum. Rick’s books often recommend good guides in various cities. One person I can recommend is Kate Bolton-Porciatti, who I have gotten to know through Context Travels Zoom programs over the past couple years. She is British, but a longtime resident of Florence. She is an excellent guide and art historian, also the mother of a teen-age son, who has helped her with video work for her presentations.

Thank you Larry. That's exactly what I had been planning to do because it's actually less expensive to hire a private guide as opposed to buying 5 individual tickets on a tour. Thank you for the referral.

I recommend Walks of Italy. We took their Florence stroll tour in the morning and their Uffizi tour in the afternoon. The morning tour starts at the Academia before it gets crowded, then moves on to the Duomo and a great stroll through the heart of Florence. The Uffizi tour in the afternoon took place when it was open late, so we could wander through the parts not covered on the tour.

The tours are limited to no more than 12. Our Uffizi tour had just 6. You get skip the line tickets. Marco, who guided both tours, has a Masters in art history. Besides hitting the highlights, there were numerous details we didn't know. He also gave great suggestions on where to eat and other less known sites to explore. We felt it was money well spent.

I agree with a private guide for the Uffizi. The lines can be 4 hours long. Our tour with Rick Steves bypassed the lines, we were in line at 8:00 AM and were in within 30 minutes as i recall. I believe American guides can no longer give tours in the Uffizi, so the private guide tailoring to your teenagers sounds perfect. The David and Accademia you can do on your own.

That's reassuring to hear. Thank you all