The painting collections in the state museums of Florence are unequalled for their quality, historical significance, and for the sheer number of works; never before have they been presented in a publication of such splendid technical quality.

The Uffizi, the Palatine Gallery, the Accademia, and the other national collections—to which the Contini Bonacossi donation and the works recovered by Rodolfo Siviero have recently been added—constitute the greatest museum complex in the world.

It is a complex unified by its history, closely tied at first to the Medici family, who were originally patrons and benefactors but who later, as their political power waned, came to be characterized as collectors and preservers of heritage.

These museums bear witness to the Florentine supremacy in the arts that was established by Cosimo I with the invaluable assistance of Vincenzo Borghini and of Giorgio Vasari.