Galleria degli Uffizi

The Uffizi Gallery, ordered by Cosimo I de’ Medici to house the administrative and judiciary offices of Florence, was born through a project entrusted to the Grand Duke's favourite architect, Giorgio Vasari, who began to work on the building's imposing structure starting in 1560, followed by architect Bernardo Buontalenti. The structure was enriched by the collection of rare and precious objects deposited there by Ferdinando II and his wife Vittoria della Rovere, Cosimo's successors. In 1737, when the Medici family became extinct, the collections became inalienable and visible to the entire Florentine population thanks to the “Family Pact”. The grand dukes of Lorraine accepted the “pact” and strove to enhance the collection of works in the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. Following the  Unification of Italy in1865, the Uffizi became one of the most important museums in the world. The central nucleus of the works it contains is focused around Florentine painters, but also Venetian and Flemish artists are featured. Among the most renowned masters, Michelangelo Buonarroti with the "Holy Family" ("Doni Tondo"), Sandro Botticelli's "Primavera" and the "Birth of Venus", Leonardo Da Vinci with his "Annunciation".