Museum in Florence

May 4th, 2007

Brancacci Chapel
The Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine is an example of Renaissance art and Florentine history. Comissioned by a wealthy Florentine silk merchant in the 1420s, the chapel was decorated in frescoes by Masaccio and Masolino depicting the life of St. Peter and the theme of redemption. In later years, the chapel suffered at the hands of Florentine government when its patron, Felice Brancacci, was exiled and declared an enemy of state. The Damnatio Memoriae was executed, and the faces of the chapels patrons were destroyed, only to be restored by Filippino Lippi fifty years later.
Masaccio’s works, including the painfully expressive Expulsion from the Garden, have inspired the great artists of the High Renaissance, including Michelangelo.
Museum Hours: 10:00AM – 5:00PM
Holidays: January 1, May 1, December 25
Museum entrance rules: You must be at the museum 10 minutes before your scheduled entrance time to redeem your tickets, reservations are required to visit the Brancacci Chapel.

Palazzo Pitti:
The Palazzo Pitti, begun in 1457, was originally built for the banker Luca Pitti. Its huge scale was developed into its actual shape by the Medici, who one century later bought the palazzo when building costs bankrupted Pitti’s heirs. In 1550 it became the main Medici residence and subsequently all Florentine rulers lived here. Today the richly decorated rooms exhibit treasures from the Medici collections and the Habsburg-Lorraine court.

Royal Apartments and Galleria Palatina
The Galleria Palatina is located in the front rooms of the Pitti Palace in Florence’s Oltrarno quarter. The more than 500 paintings in this gallery’s vast collection stem mostly from the private collections of the Medici family. The Galleria Palatina has one of the most important collections of Raphael’s works, including his celebrated Donna Velata. The works in the Palatine Gallery are arranged in accordance with the aesthetic criteria typical of 17th-century picture galleries, so today’s visitor steps into the past upon entering this gallery.
The Gallery of Modern Art holds over two thousand works providing a panorama of Tuscan art from the 18th to 20th century. Highlights of the collection include Antonio Canova’s Neoclassical sculpture Head of Napoleon, an important collection of works by the Tuscan Macchiaioli painters (similar in style to the French Impressionists), and works by Italian Futurist Gino Severini.
The paintings and sculptures are complimented by lavishly decorated rooms where generations of Medici, Lorraine and Savoy rulers dined, slept, entertained and received guests.
Museum Hours: 8:30AM – 6:50PM
Holidays: January 1, May 1, August 15, December 25
Museum entrance rules: You must be at the museum 30 minutes before your scheduled entrance time to redeem your tickets.
The Archaeological Museum of Florence

The Archaeological Museum is one of Florence’s hidden gems, housing a large and impressive collection of Egyptian and Etruscan, as well as Greek and Roman artifacts and art. The collection originally began with the Medici who were fascinated by Italy’s early inhabitants, the Etruscans. As archaeology reached its heyday in the 1800’s, the collection was added to by Italy’s wealthiest families. Most notable among the collection is the Roman statue, Idolino, and the François Vase, considered by many to be the equivalent of a genealogy of Greek mythology. Also, visit the museum’s collection of Egyptian mummies and the reconstruction of a 2nd century Etruscan tomb.

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