Uffizi Medici heiress. The Uffizi is one of the first modern museums. The gallery had been open to visitors by request since the sixteenth century, and in 1765 it was officially opened to the public, formally becoming a museum in 1865. Today, the Uffizi is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Florence and one of the most visited art museums in the world. The building of Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici so as to accommodate the offices of the Florentine magistrates, hence the name , "offices". The construction was later
Friends of the Uffizi Gallery 12, 1762. The new restoration improved on the previous one plus removed layers of dust and wax that had built up over the decades and caused the sculpture’s surface to become dull and darkened. This restoration will protect the beauty and condition of this sculpture for many generations. These two projects are examples of restorations funded by a single Leonardo-level member of the Friends of the Uffizi Gallery. The restoration of this late 2nd Century A.D. replica of a 5th Century B.C. Greek sculpture of Asclepius, the god of medicine, made it possible to confirm the pertinence of the head