The Uffizi Gallery (Italian: Galleria degli Uffizi), is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in the world. It is housed in the Palazzo degli Uffizi which means the "Palace of Offices" in Florence, Italy.

The museum and its history 

In 1560, Cosimo I de' Medici, the Duke of Tuscany, ordered a design of new office buildings for the magistrates of Florence. This is why the building is called the "Uffizi" ("offices"). The designer was Giorgio Vasari and the buildings were continued by Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Buontalenti and finished in 1581. 

The offices are in two parts which face each other across a courtyard. One end opens onto the town square and the other opens onto the River Arno. Varsari designed a sort of screen, like a backdrop in an Ancient Greek theatre. It has arches through which the view of the river can be seen. 

Duke Cosimo had a plan to arrange that finest works of art in the Medici families' collections on the upper floor. This was not done until the time of Francesco I. He also commissioned Buontalenti to design the most the famous room in the Uffizi, an octagonal room called the Tribune of the Uffizi. This room contained many of the best paintings. Rich people would often send their sons on a Grand Tour of Europe. The Tribune of the Uffizi was one of the important sights on the tour. At first, people could only see the gallery by "request". (They would ask politely and perhaps be shown around.) The last Medici heiress, Anna Maria Lodovica, made an agreement with the city of Florence. In 1765 the Uffizi Gallery was officially opened to the public.  

The collection of artworks is so large that some of the works are in other museums in Florence. Many of the statues are in the Bargello. Today the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence. In high season (particularly in July), people sometimes have to wait for five hours.

The collections
Here are some of the famous paintings:
 Cimabue: The Trinita Madonna
 Duccio: The Rucellai Madona
 Giotto: The Ognissanti Madonna, the Badia Polyptych
 Simone Martini: The Annunciation
 Paolo Uccello: The Battle of San Romano
 Piero della Francesca: Diptych of Duke Federico da Montefeltro and Duchess Battista Sforza of Urbino 
 Fra Filippo Lippi: Madonna with Child and Two Angels
 Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci:The Baptism of Christ
 Hugo van der Goes: The Portinari Altarpiece
 Sandro Botticelli: Primavera, The Birth of Venus, The Adoration of the Magi and others
 Leonardo da Vinci: The Annunciation, The Adoration of the Magi
 Piero di Cosimo: Perseus liberating Andromeda
 Albrecht Dürer: The Adoration of the Magi
 Michelangelo: The Doni Tondo')
 Raphael: Madonna of the Goldfinch, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi Titian: Flora, Venus of Urbino Parmigianino: The Madonna of the Long Neck Caravaggio: Bacchus, The Sacrifice of Isaac, MedusaThe collection also contains some famous ancient sculptures, such as the Two Wrestlers''.

Gallery

Related pages 
 Renaissance 
 List of Renaissance artists 
 National Gallery, London

Other websites 

Uffizi Gallery official website 
Uffizi Gallery  - Information, biographies and history in Italian and English
Satellite image from Google Maps

Buildings and structures in Florence
Art museums in Italy
Renaissance