Student Handbook Trip Guide to Florence

Duomo
Duomo

Masaccio
Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel

Michelangelo
Michelangelo, Medici Chapel

Giotto
Giotto, Santa Croce

Coppo di Marcovaldo
Coppo di Marcovaldo, Baptistry

Michelangelo
Michelangelo, Accademia

Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca, Uffizi

Raphael
Raphael, Uffizi

Titian
Titian, Uffizi

Caravaggio
Caravaggio, Uffizi

Angelico
Beato Angelico, San Marco

Donatello
Donatello, Bargello

donatello
Donatello, Opera di S. Maria del Fiore

Michelangelo
Michelangelo, Opera di S. Maria del Fiore

Titian
Titian, Palazzo Pitti

Titian
Titian, Palazzo Pitti

Chimera
Etruscan bronze, Museo Archeologico

Images:

Wikipedia
Web Gallery of Art
Thais.it
Museums of Florence
Artchive.com
Santa Croce Firenze

Tips

Firenze Card

The Firenze Card is a 72 hour card that gives you free admission to 33 of the most important museums in Florence. You will have access not only to permanent collections, but also to exhibitions and all other activities held in that museum without further cost. You just show your card at the entrance to the museum. Buy online or at 9 central locations in Florence. €50

Florence is much smaller than Rome, and has no hills. You can see incomparable art all day and still have time to enjoy the city (there's a wonderful market behind San Lorenzo). In the summer there are extended hours for all museums. Some museums close in the afternoons, check the hours to plan your day. Churches general close between 12.30-15 but are open till 19.00. Uffizi lines are generally shorter in the afternoon. Best way: museum bookings (charge € 4): tel. 055 294883 (or online)

Other sources: AboutFlorence.com, Arca.net timetable page, Soprintendenza ai Beni Artistici e Storici di Firenze,, Firenze Musei, Florence by Thais.it, Firenze.net, sleepinflorence.com, Online tickets, The Museums of Florence, The Florence art guide, Musicale Fiorentino, Firenze 2011, Polo Museale Fiorentino current listings

Shows

Palazzo Pitti, Museo degli Argenti: 150 artworks from Kremlin Armoury; until September 11.

Casa Buonarroti: The School of the World; 22 drawings by Michelangelo and Leonardo compared; until August 1.

Palazzo Strozzi: Picasso, Miro', Dali', Young and Angry: The Birth of Modernity; until July 17.

Uffizi: Sketches by Fra' Angelico, Botticelli, Mantegna, Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo; until June 12.


Churches

San Lorenzo
Piazza San Lorenzo. Designed by Brunelleschi. Rosso Fiorentino, pulpits by Donatello, Filippo Lippi; Cappelle Medicee

San Miniato al Monte
Via Monte alle Croci 34. A hike up and out the Porta Romana, but worth it. 11C jewel. Romanesque facade in white and green marble.

San Miniato
San Miniato al Monte

Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce, 16. Right aisle: bas-relief Annunciation by Donatello. Pazzi Chapel by Brunelleschi, Luca della Robbia. Chancel: (Bardi Chapel) Giotto Life of St. Francis. Left transept: Donatello Annunciation, wood Crucifix.

Santa Felicità
Piazza S. Felicità, right off the Ponte Vecchio. Cappella Capponi: Deposition and Annunciation of Pontormo.

Pontormo
Pontormo, Santa Felicità

Santa Maria del Carmine
see Cappella Brancacci

Santa Maria Novella
Piazza di Santa Maria Novella, near thetrain station. 1471-1512; by Leon Battista Alberti. 9-14.

Masaccio
Masaccio, Santa Maria Novella

Santa Trìnita
Piazza Santa Trìnita. Ghirlandaio, Lucca Della Robbia, Desiderio da Settignano.

Santissima Annunziata
Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. Rosso Fiorentino, del Sarto, Pontormo, del Castagno.

Santo Spirito
Piazza di Santo Spirito. designed by Brunelleschi in 1435. Paintings by Ghirlandaio, Fillippino Lippi. Fondazione Romano: Caryatides and the Adoring Angel by Tino di Camaino, the Virgin and Child by Jacopo della Quercia and two bas-reliefs by Donatello of San Prosdocimo and San Massimo, from the Basilica of Sant'Antonio in Padua.

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Galleries and Museums

Cappella Brancacci
Piazza del Carmine. Tel. 055 2382195. Mon-Sat 10-17, Sun. 13-17. Closed Tues. Masaccio's Life of St. Peter, Expulsion from Paradise, Tribute Money (1426-28); Masolino, Filippino Lippi. € 4, combined ticket Cappella Brancacci and Palazzo Vecchio; € 8

Cappelle Medicee
Basilica of San Lorenzo. daily 8.15-13.50. Closed on the 2nd and 4th Sunday and 1st, 3rd and 5th Monday of each month. Scupture and architecture of Michelangelo: the Medici tombs. € 6

Casa Buonarroti
Via Ghibellina 70, Tel. 055-241752. 9.30-14, during temporary exhibitions: 9.30-16. Closed Tuesday. Michelangelo's family home. Terracottas, drawings, wood and bronze sculpture, early work. € 6.50

Cenacolo (The Last Supper) di Andrea del Sarto
via di San Salvi 16. Tel: 0552388603. Tuesday to Sunday, 8.15 – 13.50. Former convent with grandiose fresco in the refectory of the Last Supper by Andrea del Sarto; also works by Pontormo, del Sarto, Franciabigio. Free

Cenacolo di Ognissanti
Via Borgo Ognissanti 42. Tel: 0552388720. Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, 9-12. Last Supper fresco by Ghirlandaio. Free

Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia
Via XXVII Aprile 1. Weekdays: 8.15 am - 13.50; open on the first, third and fifth Monday and second and fourth Sunday of every month. Andrea del Castagno frescoes of the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, Deposition and Resurrection. Free

Cloister of the Scalzo
Via Cavour 69 - Firenze - Mon, Thu, and Sat: 8.15 - 13.50. Free. Sixteen frescoes in grisaille, showing episodes of the Life of St. John the Baptist, by Andrea Del Sarto and Franciabigio. Free

Crucifixion by Perugino
S. Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, Borgo Pinti, 58 - Weekdays, Sunday and Holidays: 10 -12 and 17-18.30. Convent designed by Giuliano da Sangallo with monumental fresco by Perugino. Free

Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore)
Mon-Wed and Friday: 10-17, Thu: 10–15.30, Sat: 10–16.45, Sun. and holidays: 13.30-16.45, 1st Sat. of the month: 10-15.30.

Dome by Brunelleschi took 14 years to build, 1434. Stained glass windows from cartoons by Donatello, Uccello, Ghiberti. Paolo Uccello fresco Monument to Sir James Hawkwood, Castagno Monument to Niccolò da Tolentino. One-handed liturgical clock with fresco portraits of four Prophets by Uccello. Bronze doors by Luca della Robbia, Tomba del Vescovo Orso by Tino di Camaino. Free admittance.

Baptistry - 12-19, Sun 8.30-14. Believed to have been a Roman temple of Mars (4-5C). Mosaics from cartoons by Coppo di Marcovaldo and his pupil Cimabue; Donatello Funeral Monument to John XXIII. € 4

Baptistry Doors - North (Life of Christ) and East (Michelangelo referred to these doors as fit to be the "Gates of Paradise") by Ghiberti; South (Life of John the Baptist), Andrea Pisano.

Campanile by Giotto - Piazza Duomo. 10-19. 414 stairs, no lift € 6

Cupola - 9-19.30. Entry at the Porta della Mandorla of the Cathedral (north side). 463 stairs, no lift. € 6

Galleria dell'Accademia
Via Ricasoli 60. Tues-Sun 8.15-18.50. Michelangelo's Slaves, David, Pietà; works by Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Bronzino, Perugino, Uccello, Venus and Cupid by Pontormo. € 6.50

Galleria degli Uffizi
Piazzale degli Uffizi. Tues-Sun 8.15-18.50. € 6.50. Booking: Firenze Musei, Tel: 055 294883; Booking charge: € 4

First floor, Drawing and Prints Gallery: Mon, Wed, Fri: 9-13.30, Tues, Thurs: 9-17, closed in August. Tel. 055 2388671. Access is restricted to researchers with a presentation letter. For conservation reasons, works by Renaissance masters are only accessible for specialist purposes.

Top floor, First Gallery of Painting: Florentine and Tuscan painting from late 13-16C. Maestàs by Cimabue, Giotto and Duccio, Annunciation by Simone Martini, Battle of San Romano by Paolo Uccello, Coronation of the Virgin by Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca's Portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Pollaiolo Hercules and Antaeus.

Botticelli Room: Birth of Venus, La Primavera; Portinari Altarpiece, Hugo Van der Goes; Entombment, Rogier Van der Weyden; Annunciation, Leonardo da Vinci.

Tribune Room: the Medici Venus (Greek, 3C BC) portraits of the Medici by Pontormo, Bronzino, Vasari, Rosso Fiorentino's Musician Angel.

Italian and Foreign Schools of the 15-16C: Signorelli, Perugino, Adam and Eve by Cranach, Durer, Bellini, Giorgione, Correggio, Holbein, Memling.

Second Gallery of Painting: Michelangelo's Doni tondo; Raphael's Leo X, Giulio II and Madonna with Goldfinch; del Sarto, Pontormo, Parmigianino, Veronese, Tintoretto, Titian and Caravaggio.

Italian and foreign painting of 17-18C: Rubens, Van Dyck, Guardi, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Chardin, Ruysdale, Claude Lorraine, self-portraits by Rembrandt.

Museo dell'Angelico (Museo di San Marco)
Piazza San Marco. Mon-Fri: 8.15-13.50, Sat-Sun: 8.15-19; Closed on 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday and 2nd and 4th Monday. Frescoes by Fra Angelico in the original monk's cells, Fra Bartomoleo, Ghirlandaio, Gozzoli. € 4

Museo Archeologico
Via della Colonna 38. Mon 14-19; Tues, Thurs 8.30-19; Wed, Fri-Sun 8.30-14. Greek, Egyptian and Etruscan sculpture, Chimera from Arezzo, vases, sarcophagi, bronzes. € 4

Museo del Bargello (Museo Nazionale)
Via del Proconsolo 4. Mon-Sun: 8.15-14. Tel. 055 294883. 14C palace. Ground floor: sculpture by Michelangelo, Cellini. 1st floor: Donatello (St. John the Baptist, bronze David, St. George, polychromed portrait bust of Niccolo da Uzzano). 2nd floor: terracottas, Verocchio, Pollaiuolo's Hercules and Anteus, della Robbia. € 4

Museo dell' Opera del Duomo (Opera di S. Maria del Fiore)
Piazza del Duomo 9. 9-19.30. Tel. 055 2302885. Mezzanine: Pieta by Michelangelo. 1st floor: Magdalen in wood, Jeremiah and Habakkuk by Donatello; Cantoria by Donatello and della Robbia; Andrea Pisano; Verrocchio. € 6

Museo dell'Opera di S. Croce
Piazza S. Croce, 16. Tel. 055 244619. weekedays 9.30-17.00, Sun. and holidays 13-17.30. Damaged Cimabue Crucifix, Donatello bronze St. Louis, Domenico Veneziano. € 5

Museo Marino Marini
(Ex-Chiesa San Pancrazio) - Piazza S. Pancrazio. Tel. 055 219432. Weekdays: 10-17; closed Tues, Sun, and in August. Museum of the 20C sculptor Marino Marini. € 4

Museo del'Novecento (Raccolta "A. della Ragione")
Temporarily closed. 1 Via di San Leonardo (Forte Belvedere). Tel. 055 2340849, 055 2001486. Small but splendid collection of 20C Italian art. Campigli, Carrà, De Chirico, Guttuso, Mafai, Morandi, Rosai, Sironi, Arturo Martini, Marino Marini and Giacomo Manzù.

Orsanmichele
Via dei Calzaiuoli. 10-17, closed Mon. In niches outside of the building (1337) are copies of sculptures by Ghiberti ( St. John the Baptist), Verrocchio (St. Thomas) on Via Calzaiuoli; Donatello (St. George), Nanni di Banco (4 Saints) on Via Orsanmichele; Ghiberti (Saints Stephen, Matthew) on Via dei Lamberti. Free

Palazzo Pitti - main residence of the Medici from 1550. Tel. 055 287096. Inclusive ticket (valid 3 days) includes the entire museum complex of the Pitti Palace. € 11.50

Boboli Gardens - Main gate at left of Pitti Palace. 8.15-19.30, June-Aug. 16C garden, antique and renaissance sculpture, grottoes, fountains. Quicktime tour. € 6; combined with Pitti Palace € 11.50

Galleria d'Arte Moderna - 8.15-18.50 . Some of the Macchiaioli (Italian impressionists), but otherwise nothing special. € 8.50. Ticket valid also for Galleria Palatina and Royal Apartments

Galleria Palatina - Tues-Sun 8.15-18.50. Tel. 055 2388611. Many Titians: The Concert, La Bella, Pietro Aretino; Giorgone, Rubens' Le Conseguenze della Guerra, Raphael, Tintoretto, Poussin. € 8.50

Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo della Signoria) - 9-19, Thurs and holidays 9-14. Tel. 055 2768224. 1st floor, Salone dei Cinquecento: Cellini, Gianbologna, Michelangelo's Victory, Bronzino; Sala dei Gigli and outside, Donatello's Judith and Holofernes. Fantastic decorative wall paintings by Vasari and his crew. € 6; combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci € 8

Out of Town

Certosa del Galluzzo - Loc. Galluzzo - Firenze - 9-12, 15-18 closed Mon. Tel. 055 2049226. Five fresco lunettes by Pontormo showing scenes from Christ's Passion were originally in the large cloister, but are now found in the monastery's gallery with other works of art of the fourteenth-eighteenth centuries. Free.

Bookstore:
Libreria della Spada - Via delle Belle Donne and Via della Spada. Art books, discounts; south of Santa Maria Novella.
BM Libreria Book Shop - Via Borgognissanti, 4/R. Tel. 055 294575
Libreria Internazionale Seeber - Via Tornabuoni, 68. Tel. 055 215697
Melbookstore - via de' Cerretani, 16r near the Duomo. Tel. 055287339
Gelato:
Vivoli - Via della Stinche, 7. Near Santa Croce.
Perche' no! - Via Tavolini, 19r. Near Orsanmichele.

Glossary

Campanile - Bell tower
Capella - Chapel
Casa - House
Cenacolo - Last Supper
Duomo - Cathedral
Masaccio - Big bad Tom
Vecchio - Old

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