Art museums in Florence

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence holds a huge collection of valuable works mostly from the Italian Renaissance. The building was designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici, the second Duke of Florence, to house administrative offices and the state archive. Over the time, the Medici fam

The Accademia Gallery in Florence was founded in 1784 and holds Michelangelo's masterpiece - the statue of David. Apart from this famous sculpture, it holds other artworks by Michelangelo and a collection of Renaissance paintings. The marble statue of the Biblical hero David was created between 1501

Museo Nazionale del Bargello is a museum in Florence that is housed in a 13th-century palace which is the oldest public building in Florence. It opened as a national museum in 1865 after it was used as barracks, a prison, and finally the residence of the Bargello, the head of the police. The art gal

Located just behind the cathedral, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo was founded in 1891 to hold the works of art that were originally decorating the Baptistry of San Giovanni, the Duomo and Giotto's Bell Tower. There are over 750 medieval and Renaissance statues and reliefs situated over three floors

Museo di San Marco is an art museum in Florence that is housed in a medieval Dominican convent designed in the 15th century by a notable Italian architect Michelozzo, one of the pioneers of Renaissance architecture in Florence. The extensive collection of artworks contains paintings and frescoes by

The Vasari Corridor in Florence is an enclosed passageway that was built in 1565 by Cosimo I de' Medici. Linking the Palazzo Pitti and the Palazzo Vecchio, this corridor is decorated with paintings by Raphael, Bernini, Rubens, and Rembrandt. There are windows in the middle of Ponte Vecchio that off

The Galleria Palatinain Florence is the main gallery of the Pitti Palace that contains more than 500 Renaissance paintings from the private art collection of the Medici family. It was first opened to the public by the House of Lorraine in 1828. The collection includes masterpieces by Raphael, Titian

The Stibbert Museum in Florence holds and exhibits a collection of over 36,000 artifacts, including a large collection of armour from Eastern and Western civilizations. The museum is housed in a villa that was once the home of English art collector and businessma Frederick Stibbert. It has 57 rooms

Built in the 14th century by the wealthy Davizzi family, the Palazzo Davanzati is layered with history. The palace houses the Museum of the Old Florentine House and is the best-preserved medieval home in Florence and was furnished with art and furniture from that period. After restoration in 2012, i

As there were a lot of abandoned babies in the 1400s, Florence needed to establish an institution which would take care of them. This Renaissance complex, the Spedale degli Innocenti, was built in the 1440s to serve as a children's orphanage and operated as one until the 19th century. It was designe

The Renaissance palace Palazzo Medici Riccardi was built by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo for Cosimo de' Medici between 1444 and 1484. He moved to Palazzo Vecchio in 1540, but part of the Medici family stayed here until 1659 when Ferdinando II sold it to the Riccardi family, a rich family of bankers who

The Opificio delle Pietre Dure is a public institute of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage in Florence. The operating and research activities of the Opificio are focused on the fields of restoration, preservation of works of art and the teaching of restoration. The museum is housed in the ro

The Museo Salvatore Ferragamo is dedicated to the renowned shoe designer Salvatore Ferragamo. Ferragamo emigrated to the United States and ended up in Hollywood where he worked with many stars in the 1920s. After that, he returned to Italy and founded a company selling unique handmade shoes and othe

Established in 2011, the Gucci Museum - Gucci Garden is devoted to the renowned Florentine fashion house founded in 1921. It's housed in a 14th-century palace and showcases plenty of goods including bags, clothes, and jewelry. The museum also contains contemporary art installations, a library, a caf

The Museo Bardini (Bardini Museum) is a musuem in FLorence that houses a collection of more than 3600 works, including paintings, sculptures, armor, musical instruments, ceramics, coins, medals and antique furniture. Two rooms on the ground floor are dedicated to Florence and its history, with some

The Museo Archeologico Nazionale (The national Archaeology Museum) in Florence is housed in a 17th-century palace, containing collections of Etruscan, Roman, Greek, Egyptian artworks and everyday items. The Egyptian Museum is housed on the first floor, recently expanded with two halls dedicated to C

The Florence Charterhouse is a charterhouse or Carthusian monastery in Florence, a walled complex located on Monte Acuto. It was founded in 1341 by the Florentine noble Niccolò Acciaioli. Florence Charterhouse now holds lunettes from the cloister, frescoed by Pontormo.

Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto in Florence boasts a remarkable piece called 'The Last Supper' which covers more than 40 square meters. The painter Andrea del Sarto worked over eight years on his masterpiece. Some of his other artworks are on display as well.

The Tesoro dei Granduchi (Treasure of the Grand Dukes) is part of the Palazzo Pitti complex in Florence. Established in the second half of the 19th century, it is housed in the northern side wing of the main building and extends over 14 rooms on the ground floor and 13 rooms at the mezzanine floor a

Casa Buonarroti is an estate in Florence that was once owned by the great sculptor Michelangelo, but who never lived here. The property was given to his nephew and later turned into a museum devoted to Michelangelo's early artworks - most notably the relief sculptures Madonna of the Steps and the Ba

Museo di Casa Martelli in FLorence is housed in Palazzo Martelli, a former residential palace. This civic museum exhibits in situ the remains of the original family's valuable art collection, as well as its frescoed rooms. The collection includes works by di Cosimo, Francia, Morandini, Rosa , Giorda

The Novecento Museum (Museo Novecento) is located in Florence, inside the ancient Spedale delle Leopoldine. It is dedicated to 20th century Italian art and has about 300 works on display in 15 rooms.

If you want to see lesser known artworks of Florence, visit the Chiostro dello Scalzo and discover its hidden gems. This cloister served as the entrance to the chapel of the Confraternity of St. John the Baptist in the 14th century. Highlights are the beautiful frescoes depicting the life of St. Joh

The Museo Horne is a museum that is housed in the former Palazzo Corsi in Florence that holds a collection that mainly consists of art and furnishings of the 14th and 15th centuries. The collection includes ancient artifacts, sculptures, painted chests and a notable collection of manuscripts and pai

The Museo Marino Marini museum in Florence is devoted to Marino Marini, a 20th-century Italian sculptor born in the Tuscan town of Pistoia. Spread over four floors in a former 9th-century church, the museum exhibits about two hundred pieces of his artworks organized in a thematic order. The collecti

The Cenacolo di Fuligno is a museum in Florence that is dedicated to the great Last Supper by Pietro Perugino, in the refectory of the former convent of Sant'Onofrio, also known as the nuns of Foligno. In addition to The Last Supper of Perugino on the back wall of the refectory, the museum is dedica

The The Costume Gallery in Florence is part of the Pitti Palace complex, located in the wing called the Palazzina della Meridiana. Devoted to fashion, its exhibitions illustrate the evolution of fashion from the 16th to the early 20th century. The collection contains more than 6,000 items, including

Museo Casa Rodolfo Siviero is a museum in Florence that is dedicated to Rodolfo Siviero, who was an Italian secret agent and art historian who was most notable for his work in recovering artworks stolen from Italy during the Second World War. Rodolfo Siviero left his house and all the assets contain

The Porcelain Museum is located in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. The museum holds a great collection of porcelain that was once in possession of the ruling families - the Medici, Lorraine, and Savoy. The items on display originate from different periods and are not only from Italy, but also from A

The Santo Stefano al Ponte is a Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church in Florence. The church is used as a concert hall and features various artworks, while the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, housed in the rectory and adjacent spaces to the church of Santo Stefano al Ponte houses a collection of w

The Bellini Museum or Galleria Luigi Bellini (Museo Bellini) is a private museum in Florence. The museum holds a collection of a dynasty of antiquarians (since the 18th century), which contains objects such as tables painted with gold from the Middle Ages, small bronzes, wooden sculptures, majolica

Dating back to the 14th century, this Gothic building houses the Museo del Bigallo. The collection includes both historical and religious works donated by the brotherhood Compagnia della Misericordia and most of the paintings depict their life. Furthermore, the museum displays frescoes which origina

The Basilica di Santa Maria Novella is a basilica in Florence of which the façade was built by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470. The church contains the fresco The Holy Trinity of Masaccio. Annexed to it are the buildings of the convent, with three monumental cloisters. The Green Cloister, the Spanish

Built in the 16th century, the Belvedere Fort was designed to demonstrate the power of the Medici family and to protect the center of the city. Not many people know that Galileo visited the fortress and completed some if his important studies here. The architecture style of the fort is a mixture of

The Salvatore Romano Foundation is located in the Cenacle of Santo Spirito at the Basilica of Santo Spirito in Florence. The large room features a collection of sculptures from the 11th to the 15th century that was donated to Florence by the antiquarian Salvatore Romano. The collection features two

Opened in 1965, the Dante's House museum stands on the site of a house where Dante Alighieri was born in 1265. With exhibitions spread over three floors, the museum is devoted to this great Italian writer, artist, and politician. The first floor displays document about the 13th century Florence and