The traditional exploding of the cart won’t be taking place on Easter Sunday this year in Florence, for obvious reasons. Instead, at 9.30am on April 12, the Archbishop of Florence, accompanied by the Mayor of Florence and the city’s standard, will carry a candle out in front of the cathedral from the high altar before lighting it. This symbolic gesture will take place in the empty piazza on Easter Sunday morning and can be watched live on TV Prato.
Candle lighting replaces the famous Scoppio del Carro this Easter Sunday in Florence
Five artworks by leading artists will feature in videos that the Uffizi Galleries are posting daily on their Facebook page from Maundy Thursday to Easter Monday. Each painting will be explained by one of the museum’s experts. Antonio Ciseri’s Ecce Homo is the first work to be displayed via video on April 9, followed by Shaped cross with scenes of the Passion of Christ, by a thirteenth-century artist known as “Maestro della Croce 432” on April 10. Saturday, April 11 brings Fra Bartolomeo’s Lamentation over the Dead Christ, while Easter Sunday focuses on Rubens’s famous Resurrection of Christ. The Easter art tour of the Uffizi’s collections ends on April 13 with Supper at Emmaus by Pontormo.
Rubens’s Resurrection of Christ (1616), Palazzo Pitti, Florence
Continue your cultural Easter weekend by “visiting” The Easter Story exhibition on the Uffizi’s website with 42 high-definition images of paintings displayed in the gallery, including works by Titian, Perugino, Giottino and Rubens, and accompanying text.
