Department of Prints and Drawings

The publication of the reproductions of I Disegni della R. Galleria (The Drawings of the Royal Gallery) was launched in 1912 by Giovanni Poggi, the then Director of the Uffizi Gallery. He entrusted the task to the renowned book collector Leo Samuel Olschki, who went on to complete the work in 1921. To encourage sales of the so-called “Portafogli Olschki” and recuperate the initial costs, a connection was forged between the published reproductions and the annual exhibitions.