Explore the Halls of the Accademia Gallery

This part of the museum is named after the ancient plaster casts that are housed here. The first thing to see here are the works of Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi, Paolo Uccello, Perugino, and Botticelli, which you will find on the wall of the entrance itself. On the wall to the left, you will find six exhibits of 15th Century altarpieces. These pieces elaborate on the development of the Florentine School of Art. To your right, Giambologna’s plaster cast has been established. It is surrounded by three immensely intricate altarpieces. The altarpieces were created by Perugino, Raffaellino del Garbo, and Filippino Lippi.

The Hall of the Prisoners was named after the four male nude sculptures. These sculptures have a long and intriguing history. They were commissioned in 1505, which means that it outdates the Sistine Chapel. The sculptures were originally intended to be a part of a spectacular tomb for Pope Julius II Della Rovere. However, halfway through its construction, Michelangelo stopped working on these due to financial restraints. These sculptures were then left out of the plan and thus remained in Florence. The Hall of Prisoners also has paintings by Granacci, Andrea del Sarto, Fra’ Bartolomeo, Pontormo, and Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio.

This part of the Accademia Gallery has the most remarkable back story, and possibly attracts the most attention. Michelangelo’s David is one of his most remarkable sculptures in history. It stood out in the open at Piazza Della Signoria since1504, when in the 1850s, David was finally moved inside a tribune. Later on, this tribune became a part of the modern Accademia Gallery. Today, David can be found surrounded by works of some of the greatest artists, like Bronzino, Cecchino Salviati, and Allori. The idea behind this is to exhibit the similarity of thinking between these artists and Michelangelo.

Gipsoteca Bartolini has been a part of the Accademia Gallery since 1784. In order to create a more practical, art-filled environment for his students, the patron of the Fine Arts Academy ordered that the Friary Hospital of San Matthew and Convent be converted into only an art gallery. Lorenzo Bartolini, one of the leading professors in the history of the revered academy, contributed a lion’s share of artwork for this hall. Pampaloni also decided to contribute his works to the academy. Gipsoteca Bartolini chronicles the evolution of Florentine art from the days of  New-classicism and Romanticism.

This is the last hall on the ground floor of the Accademia Gallery. The hall has three rooms, dedicated to 13th and early 14th century artists, the Giottesque painters, and Orcagna and his brothers, respectively. The first room houses the oldest works of art that you can find in the Accademia Gallery, dating back to the 13th century. The second room displays the works of the followers of Giotto, whose motive was to bring the theme of nature back to art. The last room displays artworks of the four artist brothers, Andrea, Nardo, Matteo, and Jacopo di Cione, along with some restored artwork.

This is possibly the most targeted part of the Accademia Gallery. The Museum of Musical Instruments has over fifty musical instruments that were once an indispensable part of the Medicean court. This collection includes string and wind instruments, harpsichords, and early forms of the piano like the ‘pianoforte’, including the famous Viola by Stradivari. The interesting part is the amount of work that went into creating these instruments. In addition to the instruments, you can enjoy the tour of the Museum of Musical Instruments via multimedia systems to add to the experience.

This hall is situated on the first floor of the Accademia Gallery. It was recently modified in order to make it more appealing to the visitors. A compilation of late 14th Century art was put together in this hall. The first set of artworks that you will see in the hall is dedicated to the local religious and spiritual practices during the time period. The main hall consists of the art commissioned by the Florentine Guilds, which were the major driving forces of the erstwhile society. Do not miss the altarpieces in the hall as they are wonderful exponents of Gothic architecture.