In the late 1500s, the Grand Duke of Italy granted permission to enter the museum (by request). Four hundred years later, it has also earned the distinction of oldest 'public' museum in the world.

Cosimo de Medici decided to build the original palace in which the Uffizi is housed, but the actual construction of the property was initiated by Giorgio Vasari and - finally - completed by Buontalenti. It was still, however, a palace, a sometime office, and mostly just a building where some fine art happened to be held.

That wasn't good enough for old Buontalenti, although it was his son Francesco that actually did something about it. In 1581, Francesco fitted the second floor gallery with large, elaborate windows, using natural light and color reflections to highlight many of the pieces he wished to display. With lighting in place, he then put together a collection comprised of a portion of the Grand Ducal collection (which contained a variety of medals, jewelry and paintings, among other items.) A painstaking process of selection and arrangement, the original 'exhibition' is considered by many artists the original exhibit of the Uffizi.

This gallery, often called the finest example of 'real' art in the world, contains what is considered the most important art collection ever. From paintings on wood to truly dazzling and well-preserved classical sculpture, here is the place where one can indulge (gazing only!) in priceless works of art - spanning from the 13th to the 18th century - for a fraction of the cost of more expansive but less impressive museums. (In general, the cost for admission is 8 euro*. European citizens over 18 and under 25 will pay 4 euro*. Also, please note that admission to the Uffizi is free for foreign residents from countries 'for which reciprocity holds. *as of July 2000')

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Altered and rearranged several times over the centuries according to the cultural tastes of the various periods, the exhibition rooms are now composed of over 45 rooms containing about 1.700 paintings, 300 sculptures, 46 tapestries and 14 pieces of furniture and/or ceramics. In actual fact the Uffizi owns about 4.800 works, the remainder of which are either in storage or on loan to other museums.

For more information about the Uffizi Gallery, please check out Virtual Uffizi. For more details and updated collection locations, admission prices and operating hours, please visit the official site of the Uffizi Gallery.

Special thanks for the Uffizi Gallery for providing collection location and pricing/operating hours information. Special thanks to MEGA for the use of the 18th Century drawing of the Uffizi.

This article was written by staff writer Sabrina Friedman.