It is well known that the first works of art to enter the newly completed Vasari complex, back in the 1680s, were the ancient marbles from Cosimo I's collection, which had been kept in Palazzo Pitti until then. It was Ferdinando I who had the intuition to place the precious sculptures in the eastern corridor on the top floor, where they could be admired completely bathed in natural light. During the 17th century, the statues and portraits spread, occupying the southern corridor and, with the reign of Cosimo III, also the western one. Cosimo III was also responsible for the intuition of having large antique sculptures placed in the Tribuna. Among these was the Medici Venus, destined to become the icon and symbol of the Florentine museum for the next two centuries.

Finally, the splendid series of twelve ancient herms with portraits of Greek philosophers, athletes, poets and statesmen, originally intended by Ferdinand I to decorate the garden of Villa Medici on the Pincio, has been restored to the public in its entirety.