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Why the
Uffizi Gallery
is special
This celebrated museum in Florence, Italy has an unrivaled collection of Italian
Renaissance masterpieces.

Famous paintings

The many world famous paintings in the Uffizi Gallery include Botticelli's
"Birth of Venus" (see picture), Leonardo da Vinci's "Annunciation",
Michelangelo's "Holy Family", Raphael's "Madonna with a Goldfinch" and Titian's
"Venus of Urbino".

Chronological
presentation

The artworks are displayed in a time-line sequence, which gives visitors a
feeling for the evolution of Renaissance art.

History
of the gallery

The Uffizi Gallery is closely linked with the rich Medici Family who ruled the
region for centuries. They constructed the Uffizi building in the mid-1550s to
house government administrative offices ("uffizi" in Italian, hence the museum's
name).

The Medicis
were avid fine art collectors. They began converting parts of the Uffizi
building into a gallery for their acquisitions. The Medici art collection grew
with each successive generation into thousands of glorious artworks.

In 1737,
the last of the powerful Medicis bequeathed to the public her family's entire
art collection.




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