Florence – Accademia & Uffizi Gallery

The top two museums in Florence, Italy are the Accademia and the Uffizi. Entry tickets must be purchased in advance or else wait in a super long line. The advance sales tickets were being booked out a week. So, we worked in a few other museums, visited the Cinque Terre coast towns and then it was time for these two!

 

Accademia – Oct 25

The Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, or “Gallery of the Academy of Florence”, is an art museum in Florence, Italy. It is best known as the home of Michelangelo’s sculpture David. It also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a large collection of paintings by Florentine artists, mostly from the period 1300–1600 (the Trecento to the Late Renaissance). It is smaller and more specialized than the Uffizi, the main art museum in Florence.

In 2016, it had 1.46 million visitors, making it the second-most-visited art museum in Italy, after the Uffizi. The museum was founded in 1794. We booked our tickets through a tour group to obtain the “skip the line” timed entry. Our son Ross was still with us for this guided walking tour. So, we met our guide in the morning and walked a few blocks to the museums. These museums were all Renaissance art that has much historical significance, as the end of the medieval art period and a new style. Personally, I like the Impressionistic style better from the latter half of the 1800 into the early 1900.

Of course, during the Renaissance period, not only a change in art but also a parallel with developments which occurred in philosophy, literature, music, science, and technology. A rebirth period.

Uffizi

The building itself is a work of art. The Uffizi complex was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de’ Medici as a central office for the city. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of the largest and best-known in the world and holds a collection of priceless works, particularly from the period of the Italian Renaissance.

Wrap Up

Next up will be some more Florence and Tuscany exploring as we send our son Ross off to his sailing adventure in the Canary Islands. Thanks for following along and God Bless.