Accademia Museum

The Collections

In addition to taking the time to admire Michelangelo’s David which is prominently displayed underneath a circular skylight, visitors will be able to view a number of other works by Michelangelo including the celebrated Prisoners. Visitors enter through the Hall of Colossus, which boasts enormous models of the Dioscuri of Montecavallo. Another highlight here is the Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna, which represents a group of three women and was created from a single block of marble. Visitors should then make their way to the Hall of the Prisoners, where they will discover Michelangelo’s Slaves statue, which was never actually completed.

The Museum

Known locally as the Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, Academia Gallery is an art museum that is famous for being home to the sculpture David by Michelangelo. This impressive institution was commissioned by Pietro Leopoldo, who was the Grand Duke of Tuscany, back in 1784. The original sculpture of David was received by Accademia Gallery in 1873, where it has stood in pride of place ever since. Legend has it that the sculpture was brought from its previous outdoor location in the Piazza della Signoria to the Accademia for conservation.

It was originally intended that the Accademia Gallery would serve as a museum dedicated solely to the works of Michelangelo, featuring a large collections of original drawings and sculptures. However, aside from David, only a relatively small collection of works by Michelangelo can be found here, including the four unfinished Prisoners that were originally intended to grace the tomb of Pope Julius II as well as a statue of Saint Matthew, which is also unfinished. In 1939 a Pietà was discovered in the Barberini chapel that can be found in Palestrina, and this statue was added to the collection. The now famous Museo degli strumenti musicali collection opened in 2001 and this impressive collection contains instruments that were made by Stradivarius as well as Bartolomeo Cristofori and Niccolò Amati. More than a million people visit Accademia Gallery each and every year, which makes this the second most popular art gallery in Italy after the Uffizi.