Attractions in Florence
Frescoes:
Frescoes were made by painting onto a thin layer of damp, freshly laid plaster. (Fresco means "fresh"). Pigments were drawn into the plaster by surface tension, and the color became fixed as the plaster dried. The pigments reacted with the lime in the plaster to produce strong, vivid colors. Because the colors do not lie close to the surface, restorers are able to clean the plaster and remove soot and grime to reveal the original, embedded colors. Artists used rare, costly minerals to create the bright pigments. The base coat of plaster was made of clay, hair , sand and lime and called "arriccio." The top or finish coat of plaster was lime based and of a fine quality. It was called "intonaco."
Galleria dell'Accademia:
Via Ricasoli, 60
9-2 closed on Monday.
The Accademia di Belle Arti was founded in 1563 and was Europe's first school of drawing. The Academy Gallery houses works of Italian sculptors like Michelangelo (main gallery), including the original David. After an attempted hammer attack by a disturbed visitor in 1991, the masterpiece was relegated to a protective position behind a fence of Plexiglas. It is a little harder to view the statue under the present circumstances, but it is still possible to study its perfect form and fluid movement.
History of Photography Museum:
Via della Vigna Nuova, 16
055- 218975
10-19.30 daily; Fri./Sat. 10-23.30
Closed Wednesdays
This museum is devoted to the history of photography. Exhibits come from the archives of the Alinari brothers who founded the world's first photography society in 1852.
Loggia del Bigallo:
In the 15th century homeless or lost children were publicly displayed under this portico. When no parents claimed them for three days, they were taken to a foster family. built between 1352 and 1358 by Alberto Arnoldi. The paintings that used to be on the facade are now exhibited in a museum inside. They show the life of St Peter Martyr, who founded the Compagnia Maggiore di St-Maria del Bigallo to fight heresy.
Marino Marini Museum:
Piazza S. Pancrazio
(Disabled access)
055- 219432
10-1 and 3-6 (summer)
Closed on Tues. and for 2 weeks in August
The former church of San Pancrazio has been turned into a museum devoted to the work of Italy's best known abstract artist, Marino Marini (1901-1980). Marini studied art in Florence before moving on to teach in Monza and at the prestigious Berea Academy in Milan. He is noted for his bronzes, many on the theme of horse and rider.
Mercato Nuovo:
Built 1547-1551 by Giovanni Battista del Tasso. The market is locally known as the 'Porcellino' (swine) because of the fountain by Pietro Tacca, 1612. It is said that everyone who rubs the well polished snout of Il Porcellino, is certain to return to the city. Coins dropped in the trough below are distributed to city charities.
The Monumental Cemetery:
The Monumental Cemetery (known as "of the Holy Gates") outside the Basilica was established inside the fortified enclosure created by Michelangelo in 1529. Designed by architect Nicolò Matas during the period in which he was working on the facade of Santa Croce, it contains the remains of many celebrities like Papini, Montale, Stibbert, Villari and Lorenzini (known as "il Collodi", the creator of Pinocchio). The various family chapels belonging to the Florentine bourgeoisie can be said to represent a repertoire of city architecture of the time.
Museum of Florence As It Was and Oblate Garden:
Via Oriuolo, 4
(Disabled access)
055- 2616545
9-2 - Holidays 8-1
Closed Thursdays
The museum is small, and contains a series of watercolors and also paintings by Ottone Rosai, a local artist who died in 1957. The main feature is a room sized painting of Florence at the height of the Renaissance.
Santa Croce:
Piazza Santa Croce
055--244-619
Building of this Franciscan church started probably by Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect of the Duomo, in 1294. The marble facade and the bell tower were built between 1853 and 1863. The church contains frescos by Giotto, many tombstones and commemorative monuments, including those of Galileo, Rossini, Macchiavelli's tomb, and Vasari's monument to Michelangelo, who died in Rome but was brought to Florence to be buried here, by Cosimo I. The collection of art in this church complex is by far the most important of any church in Florence.
Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce:
Piazza Santa Croce 16
055--244-619
Mon-Sat 9:30-12:15 and 3:30-5:30 Sun.: 3-5:30.
Part of Santa Croce's convent has been set up as a museum for artistic treasures that were damaged in the 1966 Arno flood, which buried the church under tons of mud and water. The entrance through a door to the right of the church facade, spills into an open-air courtyard planted with cypress. On the grass are a seated Baccio Bandinelli God in marble and a Henry Moore bronze.
At the end of the path is the Cappella de' Pazzi, one of Filippo Brunelleschi's architectural masterpieces. Giuliano di Maiano probably designed the porch that leads to the chapel, which is set with glazed terra cottas by Luca della Robbia. The rectangular chapel is one of Brunelleschi's signature pieces and a defining example of early Renaissance architecture. Light gray pietra serena is used to accent the architectural lines against smooth white plaster walls. The the only decorations are della Robbia roundels of the Apostles (1442-52). The Evangelists surrounding the dome may have been designed by Donatello or Brunelleschi himself before being produced by the della Robbia workshop.
On the right as you enter the chapel is the painting that became the representative of all the artworks damaged during the 1966 flood: Cimabue's Crucifix, one of the masterpieces of the artist who began bridging the gap between Byzantine tradition and Renaissance innovation.
Via de' Benci, 6
055- 244661
9-13 Sum. Tuesdays also 20.30-23
Closed Holidays and Sun.
Of the city's several small once-private collections, the one formed by Englishman Herbert Percy Horne and left to Florence in his will has several excellent pieces.