[ Related page: Best of Florence ]
Galleria dell’Accademia is Florence’s second- most-visited museum, after the Galleria degli Uffizi. Housed in Florence’s Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, which was first established in the 16th century, the collection on display in the Galleria dell’Accademia was acquired from the 18th century on, originally as a means of tutoring its students. Although home to an impressive range of paintings (Benozzo Gozzoli, Uccello, Botticelli, Filippino Lippi, Fra Bartolomeo, Perugino and others), it is best-known for its seven marble sculptures by Michelangelo – David, above, brought here in 1873, just after the Unification of Italy, to save it from further storm damage; the four incomplete Prigioni (prisoners) intended for the Vatican mausoleum of Pope Guilio II; St Mathew, designed but not finished for the Duomo façade; and Pietà di Palestrina, one of his last sculptures.
In line with today’s high-tech expectations, the museum has added a clever and informative touch-table display depicting not just how the sculptures were carved but also how the ravages of time, the weather and misguided attempts at cleaning and maintaining them have all taken their toll.
(Photo: Rico Heil/Creative Commons)
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