MADISON, WI.- Forty-five works by Renaissance old masters will be on view in the Midwest for the first time. The exhibition of paintings and two tapestries was curated by Uffizi Gallery Director Antonio Natali around the theme of the Eucharist, and offers recently restored works by masters such as Botticelli, Tintoretto, Titian, and il Parmigianino. Spanning approximately three centuries from the late fourteenth to the early eighteenth century, these works were executed by some of the leading painters working in Italy, principally in Florence, during the rule of the Medici dynasty. The exhibition is organized into six sections: Old Testament; Original Sin and the Fall; New Testament; Mother and Son; The Last Supper, the Passion, and the Cross; The Resurrection and the Eucharist. The exhibition will be on view August 24 through November 25, 2012.

Every Christmas, the Uffizi Gallery and the Amici degli Uffizi present a temporary exhibition of rarely seen artworks from the museum’s extensive collections as a gift to the citizens of Florence. The 2007 exhibition, Offering of the Angels, was so well received that it traveled successfully to a few European cities. Subsequently, four American museums—the Museum of Art | Fort Lauderdale, the Michener Art Museum of Doylestown, Penn., the Chazen Museum of Art, and the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, Ga.—partnered to bring the exhibition to the United States. The Chazen is the only Midwestern museum that will exhibit these works from one of Europe’s oldest and most famous museums.

A family activity guide will be available upon request. An audio tour will be available to rent for $5 (free for members), and a full-color exhibition catalogue will be for sale in the Museum Shop.

Guided tours can be arranged by appointment for K–12 students and adults. Tours are also available in Italian for language classes. Call 608-263-2246 at least 3 weeks before desired date.

There is no admission charge to this exhibition or to the Chazen Museum of Art.

Offering of the Angels: Paintings and Tapestries from the Uffizi Gallery was organized by Contemporanea Progetti, Florence, Italy, in collaboration with the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Rome, Italy; Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della Città di Firenze, Florence, Italy; Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy; Amici degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy; Friends of the Uffizi Gallery, Inc. Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.