Florence cloudburst sends water into Uffizi onto Caravaggio case

Rainwater dripped onto the glass box holding Caravaggio's Bacchus inside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence during a violent thunderstorm on Thursday, 17 September.

The storm dropped 45mm of rain on Florence in just one hour, according to Wanted in Rome. Water got inside the museum and wetted the protective case around the painting. That case — a sealed glass enclosure that keeps temperature and humidity steady — sits between the canvas and the room.

The leak came from under a skylight in a room that displays seven 17th-century paintings, including the Bacchus, Euronews reported. A cloudburst, a sudden and very heavy downpour, sent water through the weak point around the skylight. Drops fell onto and around the case while the storm passed over the historic centre.

The Uffizi said the water splashed only the outer glass of the case and did not reach the canvas itself, according to a museum statement cited by Yahoo News. The rain seeped into the gallery as the thunderstorm hit the Tuscan capital on Thursday, ANSA reported. Staff moved to protect the room during the downpour.

The Bacchus suffered no damage, Finestre sull'Arte reported. The case did its job. It kept water and sudden damp away from the paint surface.

That matters because old oil paintings on canvas react badly to water. Even a small splash can mark varnish, and damp air can swell canvas and wood. Major museums use sealed cases and climate controls to slow those changes and keep conditions stable.

For visitors, the key point is simple. The painting — a young Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, holding up a glass — remains intact and on view. No damage to the work itself was reported.

Technicians will now need to check the skylight seal and the room's humidity controls. A short failure at the roof was enough to put a centuries-old canvas at brief risk.