Vasari-designed pantheon of Renaissance masters
Thanks to its extraordinary collections of paintings and ancient statues, the Uffizi Gallery is Italy’s most-visited museum and one of the most famous cultural institutions in the world. It exhibits artistic masterpieces by Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio. German, Dutch and Flemish masters are also well represented, with important works by Dürer, Rembrandt and Rubens. Many of the works in the collection are masterpieces of the Western art historical canon, including da Vinci’s “Annunciation,” Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and Artemisia Gentileschi’s “Judith Beheading Holofernes.” The Uffizi Gallery occupies the first and second floors of a large building erected by Giorgio Vasari between 1560-80 to house the administrative offices of the Tuscan State. The Gallery was created by Grand-Duke Francesco I, and was subsequently enriched by various members of the Medici family. The collection was later rearranged and enlarged by the House of Lorraine, who succeeded the Medici, and finally by the Italian State.
