The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (Museum of the Works of the Cathedral) 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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

is a museum containing many of the original works of art created for

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral (), formally the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower ( ), is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Florence in Florence, Italy. Commenced in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed b ...

, including the adjacent

Florence Baptistery The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John (), is a religious building in Florence, Italy. Dedicated to the patron saint of the city, John the Baptist, it has been a focus of religious, civic, and artistic life since its ...

and Giotto's Campanile. Most of the exterior sculptures have been removed from these cathedral buildings, usually replaced by replica pieces, with the museum conserving the originals. The museum is located just east of the Duomo, near its

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

. It occupies the area where much of the sculpture it houses was originally carved, as well as pieces such as

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 ''

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 ...

'', which was commissioned for the cathedral (this is now in the Galleria dell'Accademia). It opened as a museum in 1891, and now houses what has been called "one of the world's most important collections of sculpture." Between 2009 and 2015 the museum considerably expanded, taking over the adjacent old Teatro Nuovo ("New Theatre") building. This allowed the construction of large display frameworks copying the architecture of the cathedral, into which the museum's originals are placed at their appropriate positions. As of April 2023, the director of the museum is Fr. Timothy Verdon, an American priest who has held the position since 2011.

Collection

Sculpture

Among the museum's holdings are

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptister ...

's doors for the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral called the '' Gates of Paradise'', the two ''cantorias'', or singing-galleries, designed for the cathedral, one each by Luca della Robbia and

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

. All these have been replaced by replicas at the cathedral. The cathedral holds the originals of important early 15th-century sculptures for the exterior by Donatello (including the '' Zuccone''), Ghiberti, Nanni di Banco, Nanni di Bartolo (''il Rosso''), Niccolò di Piero Lamberti and others. The collection also includes '' The Deposition'', a

pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

sculpted by

which he intended for his own tomb, and Donatello's wood '' Penitent Magdalene''. Although it was reported on August 6, 2013, that a tourist had accidentally snapped a finger off of a 14th-century statue of the Virgin Mary by Giovanni d'Ambrogio, the finger was from a later repair and not part of the original work. File:Pieta Bandini Opera Duomo Florence n01.jpg, '' The Deposition'' by

, 1547–1555 File:Zuccone Donatello OPA Florence.jpg, '' Zuccone'' by

File:Donatello, Young Prophet, c1406, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence.jpg, Donatello, ''Young Prophet'', File:Porta del paradiso dopo il restauro 04.JPG, Detail of the '' Gates of Paradise'' by Ghiberti File:Donatello, maria maddalena 02.JPG, Donatello's wood '' Penitent Magdalene'' File:Cantoria Della Robbia OPA Florence 6.jpg, Part of Luca della Robbia's ''cantoria'' reliefs

Other

The museum also has significant collections of paintings (mostly late medieval and Early Renaissance),

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...

s, textiles in the form of

vestment Vestments are Liturgy, liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christianity, Christian religion, especially by Eastern Christianity, Eastern Churches, Catholic Church, Catholics (of all rites), Lutherans, and Anglicans. ...

s, metalwork and church plate,

micromosaic Micromosaics (or micro mosaics, micro-mosaics) are a special form of mosaic that uses unusually small mosaic pieces (tesserae) of glass, or in later Italian pieces an Vitreous enamel, enamel-like material, to make small figurative images. Survivi ...

s and

reliquaries A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported or actual physic ...

References

External links

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo - Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Museo Dell'opera Del Duomo (Florence) Art museums and galleries in Florence Art museums and galleries established in 1891 Religious museums in Italy 1891 establishments in Italy