Walking past the Botticellis, Raphaels and Michelangelos at the Uffizi Gallery, one could understandably be surprised to come upon self-portraits by Ethiopian artist Tesfaye Urgessa and Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

At a time when museums all over the world have been examining how to tell a more inclusive story about art, the Uffizi has been slower to catch up, hamstrung by its legacy as one of Europe’s leading classical museums and by tourists expecting to see history’s greatest hits.