Uffizi Gallery

a government-supported art gallery in Florence. The Uffizi Gallery occupies a building erected to house government offices (1560–85, architects G. Vasari and B. Buontalenti). Originally consisting of collections of the Medici family, the gallery was founded circa 1575. At first displays of natural science and other items were also included in the collections; however, they were transferred to other museums in the late 18th century.

The Uffizi possesses the world’s richest collection of Italian paintings of the 13th through 18th centuries; especially well represented are works of the Venetian and Florentine schools. Especially important are works of Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgioni, and Titian. The museum also houses magnificent French, German, Netherlandish, Dutch, and Flemish masterpieces, as well as a unique collection of self-portraits of European artists.