By Rachel Donadio

Eike Schmidt, the new director of the Uffizi Gallery here and the first non-Italian to hold the job, took what seemed a logical step. In the spring, he set up loudspeakers warning visitors about scalpers and pickpockets who target tourists waiting in the perennially long lines outside Italy's most-visited museum, famous for its magnificent treasures by Botticelli and Raphael.

But not everyone was grateful. A few days later, three Florence police officers with local media in tow arrived at his desk and handed him a fine of about $329, for broadcasting without proper city authorization. "Initially I was a little bit angry," Mr. Schmidt, a German art historian, said recently over a glass of wine.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/