Home of Michelangelo David, the Galleria dell Accademia in Florence is among the most visited art museums in Italy, a relatively small institution whose extraordinary holdings of late medieval and Renaissance Florentine art make it a fixture on every visitor itinerary. The museum opened in 1784 by order of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, to provide a study collection for the students of the adjacent academy of fine arts. Michelangelo five-metre marble of David, carved between 1501 and 1504 and moved to the gallery in 1873 to protect it from the weather, stands at the centre of the building in a domed tribune designed for the purpose, lit from above and visible down the long approaching corridor. The work, with its taut musculature and intent expression, is among the most famous sculptures in the world. The corridor leading to the David is lined with Michelangelo unfinished Prisoners, the so-called Slaves, four powerful figures struggling to free themselves from the surrounding marble, a vivid demonstration of the sculptor working method and his sense that the figure was waiting to be released from the stone. Beyond the sculpture, the gallery holds a fine collection of Florentine painting from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, with altarpieces, panel paintings and frescoes by artists including Bernardo Daddi, Lorenzo Monaco, Botticelli and Andrea del Sarto, and a more specialised collection of musical instruments from the Medici collection. The museum is a working teaching institution as well as a public gallery, and the adjacent Accademia di Belle Arti continues to train fine artists on the floor above, a relationship that has been unbroken since the eighteenth century. Reservations are essentially required during the high season, as queues at the door can be very long, but the experience of standing in front of David repays the planning, and the rest of the collection, often overlooked in the rush to the famous statue, repays a longer visit. The collection of plaster casts on the upper floor preserves a fascinating record of the sculpture training methods of the nineteenth century, with casts of famous antique works that students once drew and copied as part of their formal education. Saint Matthew, one of the unfinished Apostles Michelangelo intended for the cathedral, stands at the head of the corridor and offers another glimpse of the master at work. Audio guides and small-group expert-led tours help unpack the collection, particularly for visitors arriving with limited time to spend before pressing on to the cathedral.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Via Ricasoli 58, Florence, Italy

Website: https://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.it

Opening Date: 01/01/1784