Michelangelo in Florence "Beyond David"

Art & Culture

Michelangelo has left Florence a priceless artistic and cultural heritage, which is mostly composed of a number of extraordinary works of art he created during those long fundamental years he spent in his city.

This itinerary aims to be an invitation to tourists to enjoy besides David (today an icon of mass tourism), alsor all of his works of art with the fascinating contexts that surrounds them: his youth works in the museum situated in Buonarroti House and in Santo Spirito Church; masterpieces like Bacchus, the Pitti Tondo and Brutus at Bargello Museum; the Slaves at Accademia Gallery, Tondo Doni at Uffizi Gallery, the Genius of Victory in Palazzo Vecchio, the Sagrestia Nuova and the Laurentian Library of San Lorenzo complex, and last but not least the sublime Pietà of Duomo Museum, a masterpiece Michelangelo realized in his old age.

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Comune di Firenze

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Firenze

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Museo Casa Bonarroti

The Casa Bonarroti Museum, a house-museum in memory of the great artist, hosts precious early works by Michelangelo, such as the Madonna della Scala, clearly inspired by Donatello's "stiacciato", and the Centauromachia (a classical battle between centaurs), two splendid bas-reliefs made at the time of the Medici Garden of San Marco.

Via Ghibellina, 70, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia

https://www.casabuonarroti.it/en/home/

Basilica di Santo Spirito

The Renaissance Basilica of Santo Spirito, whose interior is a sublime work by Filippo Brunelleschi, preserves in the Sacristy the precious wooden Crucifix, an early work by Michelangelo, expression of his early anatomical studies.

Piazza Santo Spirito, 30, 50125 Firenze FI, Italia

https://www.basilicasantospirito.it/la-basilica/

Museo del Bargello

The Bargello National Museum is one of the most important museums of national and international sculpture. The palace houses masterpieces by Donatello, Verrocchio, Della Robbia and some works by Michelangelo: the classical Ebrious Bacchus (made in Rome in 1496 for Cardinal Riario), the Tondo Pitti (refined bas-relief depicting the Madonna and Child, made in 1505 for the important Florentine family), the Brutus (bust probably inspired by Lorenzaccio de' Medici, murder of Duke Alexander) and the David-Apollo.

Via del Proconsolo, 7, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia

https://www.bargellomusei.beniculturali.it/musei/1/bargello/

Accademy Gallery

The Accademy Gallery houses numerous works by Michelangelo. Besides the David, icon of mass tourism, also the series of Prisones (extraordinary sculptures, unfinished and originally conceived for the Tomb of Pope Julius II), the San Matteo and the Pietà di Palestrina.

Via Ricasoli, 58, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia

https://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.beniculturali.it/

Uffizi Gallery

The most visited picture gallery in the world preserves countless masterpieces, among which the famous Tondo Doni. It is the only Michelangelo's painting in Florence and it was realized - just before the Sistine Chapel – for Agnolo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi.

Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia

https://www.uffizi.it/en

Palazzo Vecchio

Palazzo Vecchio, museum and City Hall, dominates Piazza della Signoria. The complex, including the Monumental Rooms, hosts the majestic Salone de’ Cinquecento. There, another masterpiece by Michelangelo: the Genius of Victory, originally conceived for the tomb of Julius II.

Piazza della Signoria, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia

http://musefirenze.it/en/attivita/

Complex of San Lorenzo

The San Lorenzo complex includes, besides the Basilica (masterpiece by Filippo Brunelleschi), the Laurentian Library and the Medici Chapels (Mausoleum of the Medici Dinasty). The project for the Library (with its majestic staircase of the vestibule) and the New Sacristy, inside the Medici Chapels were ntirely conceived by Michelangelo. The New Sacristy preserves the funeral monuments of Giuliano Duca di Nemour and Lorenzo Duca d'Urbino, flanked by the famous sculptures of the Day and Night, of Dusk and Dawn.

Piazza di San Lorenzo, 50123 Firenze FI, Italia

https://www.operamedicealaurenziana.org/en/home-2/

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

One of the most prestigious sacred art museums in the world, completely renovated, presents, among its numerous masterpieces, the sublime Pietà Bandini by Michelangelo. It is a work dating back to the Buonarroti's artistic maturity, here portraying himself and expressing his spirituality. The sculpture was initially conceived by the artist for his own tomb.

Piazza del Duomo, 9, 50122 Firenze FI, Italia

https://duomo.firenze.it/en/home