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Accademia Gallery Facts

Accademia Gallery Facts
Accademia Gallery (Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze) is a museum in Florence, Italy, also known as the Museum of Michelangelo. It was founded by Pietro Leopoldo, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1784 as a teaching facility for the Academy of Fine Arts students nearby. Accademia Gallery is home to Michelangelo's famous sculpture David, acquired in 1873 when it was moved from Palazzo Vecchio. As the years progressed the gallery became home to many works of art from the 1200s to 1500s (and later centuries as well), including drawings, sculptures, and paintings by Giambologna, Pontormo, Monaco, and Botticelli. These are only a few of the most important and celebrated artists of all time whose works ultimately came to be on display at Accademia Gallery.
Interesting Accademia Gallery Facts:
The most famous work of art in Accademia Gallery is Michelangelo's David. The statue was created in 1501 - 1504 from one single marble block. Originally David had been installed at Palazzo Vecchio but it was moved to the Accademia Gallery in 1873 to protect it from the weather.
David, Michelangelo's sculpture, stands 17 feet in height. Its marble was restored between 2003-2004 and given a special wing in the Accademia Gallery, called the Tribuna del David.
Accademia Gallery also houses other work by Michelangelo including the Prisoners (four unfinished sculptures) that were meant for Pope Julius II's tomb.
Other work on display at Accademia Gallery includes Florentine paintings from artists such as Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Sarto, Sandro Botticelli, and Domenico Ghirlandaio.
Madonna and Child (Madonna col Bambino) by Botticelli is located at Accademia Gallery, along with Our Lady of the Sea (Madonna del mare).
In the 1900s Accademia Gallery added a Department of Musical Instruments to its collection. Instruments include those from the Cherubini Conservatory adjacent to the gallery. The oldest preserved upright piano in the world today is housed at Accademia Gallery.
The ground floor of the Accademia Gallery includes the Galleria dei Prigioni (Prisoner's Gallery) which houses Michelangelo's Prisoners, and Tribuna del David which houses Michelangelo's David.
Other rooms on the ground floor include Sala del Colosso which houses Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines, Sala di Giotto which houses work by Giotto, Sala del Duecento e del Primo Trecento which houses early Tuscan paintings, Sala di Giovanni da Milano e degli Orcagna which houses work by Giovanni da Milano and the di Cione brothers, Salone dell'Ottocento which houses 19th century art, and the Department of Musical Instruments.
On the Accademia Gallery's second floor there are two rooms (Sala del Tardo Trecento I and II) dedicated to altarpieces from the 1300s and 1400s.
Also on the second floor of Accademia Gallery are the rooms Sala di Lorenzo Monaco (containing paintings by Lorenzo Monaco, Gherardo Starnina, Agnolo Gaddi and others), and Sala del Gotico Internazionale (containing paintings by Maestro di Sant'Ivo, Bicci di Lorenzo, and Giovanni Toscani.
Accademia Gallery is one museum that recommends buying a ticket ahead of time. This can help avoid waiting lines, but it can also help avoid not being able to get in at all. Michelangelo's David is extremely popular with tourists.


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