The Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze () is an art museum in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy. It is best known as the home of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

's sculpture ''

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

''. It also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a large collection of paintings by Florentine artists, mostly from the period 1300–1600 (the

Trecento The Trecento (, also , ; short for , "1300") refers to the 14th century in Italian cultural history. The Trecento is considered to be the beginning of the Italian Renaissance or at least the Proto-Renaissance in art history. The Trecento was als ...

to the Late Renaissance). It is smaller and more specialised than the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...

, the main art museum in Florence. It adjoins the Accademia di Belle Arti or academy of fine arts of Florence, but despite the name has no other connection with it. In 2016, it had 1.46 million visitors, making it the second-most-visited art museum in Italy, after the Uffizi (2.02 million).

History

The Galleria dell'Accademia was founded in 1784 by Pietro Leopoldo,

Grand Duke of Tuscany Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), se ...

. In 2001 the "Museo degli strumenti musicali" collection opened. It includes musical instruments made by

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

, Niccolò Amati and

Bartolomeo Cristofori Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano. Life The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death recor ...

which were acquired by the Florence Conservatory. In 2023, the museum successfully sued a magazine publisher for using an image of Michelangelo's ''David'' without the museum's permission, even though the artwork (which is physically in the museum) belongs to the public domain. The museum also objected to GQ Italia using a lenticular cover to switch between an image of the statue and Pietro Boselli.

Works

The Galleria dell'Accademia has housed the original ''

'' by

since 1873. The sculpture was allegedly brought to the Accademia for reasons of conservation, although other factors were involved in its move from its previous outdoor location on

Piazza della Signoria () is a w-shaped Town Square, square in front of the in Florence, Central Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called . It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reput ...

. The original intention was to create a "Michelangelo museum", with original sculptures and drawings, to celebrate the fourth centenary of the artist's birth. Today, the gallery's small collection of Michelangelo's work includes his four unfinished ''Prisoners'', intended for the tomb of

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

, and a statue of ''

Saint Matthew Matthew the Apostle was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist. The claim of his g ...

'', also unfinished. In 1939, these were joined by the '' Palestrina Pietà'', discovered in the Barberini chapel in

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

, though experts now consider its attribution to Michelangelo to be dubious. Other works on display are Florentine paintings from the 13th and 16th centuries, including works by

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian Renaissance painter and mathematician from Florence who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. In his book ''Liv ...

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio (also spelt as Ghirlandajo), was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the so-c ...

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

and Andrea del Sarto; and, from the High Renaissance, Giambologna's original full-size plaster

modello A modello (plural modelli), from Italian, is a preparatory study or model, usually at a smaller scale, for a work of art or architecture, especially one produced for the approval of the commissioning patron. The term gained currency in art circl ...

for the '' Rape of the Sabine Women''. As well as a number of Florentine Gothic paintings, the gallery houses the collection of Russian

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

s assembled by the Grand Dukes of the

House of Lorraine The House of Lorraine () originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Ther ...

, of which Leopoldo was one.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Galleria Dell'Accademia Di Firenze 1784 establishments in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany 1784 establishments in Italy 1784 in art Art museums and galleries established in the 1780s Buildings and structures completed in 1784 Educational organizations established in 1784 National museums of Italy Sculpture galleries in Italy