The Uffizi Gallery

The Collections
Most of the collections were handed over by the Medici to the state of Tuscany to be part of the tourist attraction for the gallery. While the Uffizi gallery has works of art from many centuries most of its collection belongs to the 12-17th century period.

Some of the famous work hosted at the Uffizi belong to great Italian artists like Giotto, Cimabue, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli and Raffaello. The initial structure wasn’t meant to act as a museum but as ‘Uffizi’ which is Italian for offices. In the beginning the structure was only accessible to the Grand Ducal family, the servants and a few select guests.

The Medici Family, that were fond of art, would invite visitors to the top floor where they could admire his art collections. Most of his collections ranged from gems, manuscripts to sculptures and cameos. The architect Buontalenti designed the Tribune, an octagonal shaped structure that housed the works of art and jewels for Ferdinand I. This Tribune is now central to Uffizi’s history as it is considered the oldest and most precious soul of the Uffizi gallery with its original shape (from 1584) still intact.

The Museum

The famous Uffizi Gallery covers the history of art in Florence and is an enormous structure featuring an array of world famous masterpieces. It is one of the world’s most important galleries as it contains a large collection of priceless works of art from the Renaissance period. Uffizi is the Italian word for office and Cosimo I de' Medici commissioned Giorgio Vasari to build the mighty Uffizi complex in 1560 in order to accommodate the offices of the various Florentine magistrates. Construction of the building was finally completed in 1581 and the top floor was reserved as a private gallery with a collection of Roman sculptures featuring prominently here. The Uffizi brought all of the city’s administrative offices together under one roof as well as the state archive.

This impressive complex was also used to display the most prominent artworks of the Medici collections and this plan was put into action by Grand Duke Francesco I, who commissioned renowned architect Buontalenti to design of the Tribuna degli Uffizi to display a series of masterpieces in a single room. As the years passed, more areas of the Uffizi Gallery were used to exhibit prominent paintings and sculptures that were either collected or commissioned by the Medici family and between 1550 and 1568 celebrated artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci would gather at the Uffizi in order to unwind, share their ideas about art, religion and politics and create works of art in the picturesque and inspiring setting. These days, 101 rooms that were previously reserved for use by the Florence State Archive have also been opened to the public and the Uffizi is now know as being one of the top ten art museums in the world.