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The Uffizi Gallery was built in 1560 for Cosimo de Medici by the famed art historian Vasari. In surface space of approximately 8000 square meters, the Galleria degli Ufizzi houses one of the most important art collections of all time including ancient sculptures, paintings on tablets and canvases of Italian and foreign painters from 13th - 18th Centuries. It was one of the first museums opened to the public; as long ago as 1591 anyone who applied to the Grand Duke could view the collection. Its four centuries of history probably make the Ufizzi the oldest museum in the world.

It was Cosimo’s son, Francesco I who began the transformation of the building into a museum. In 1581 he had the large windows of the Gallery on the second floor closed and moved part of Grand Duke’s collection of antique statuary, medals, jewelry, pictures and scientific instruments into this space. The Medici family continued to add major works to the Gallery and on the death of the last Grand Duke, his sister, Anna Maria Ludovica, was able to prevent the dispersion of their artistic patrimony with the famous " Family Pact " (1737) which stated that everything was left to the city of Florence "as an embellishment to the city, for the benefit of the public and to attract the curiosity of foreigners".

This document was also essential in obtaining the repatriation of works removed to Paris during the Napoleonic era. Restructured and reorganized many times over the centuries according to the cultural tastes of the time, the gallery includes 45 rooms with approximately 1700 paintings, 300 sculptures, tapestries, pieces of furniture and ceramics.

Star Paintings:

- The Duke and Duchess of Urbino by Piero della Francesca

- The Birth of Venus by Botticeli

- The Holy Family by Michelangelo

- The Venus of Urbino by Titian

- Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci

Please visit the Uffizi website for details of temporary exhibitions and temporary closed rooms.

More Info:

• Uffizi Firenze