Accademia Gallery History

The Accademia in Florence, Italy, houses the most extensive collection of Michelangelo’s statues, seven to be exact, four Prisoners. The world’s most significant body of gold-based paintings is also present here. 

The Accademia Gallery has much to offer and more to share with its diverse collections, original masterpieces, and detailed Galleria dell Accademia history.

The Grand Duke of Tuscany, Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine, founded the Galleria dell’Accademia in 1784, also known as the Academy of fine arts Florence Italy.

This Academy of fine arts Italy stands on an ancient building that previously housed the Convent of Saint Niccolo of Cafaggio and the Hospital of San Matteo. 

Book your tickets to the Accademia in advance to save at the entrance and use that time diving deep into the history of the Accademia Gallery Florence and its artworks. 

To know more about the history of the Accademia Gallery and its various art pieces, try the guided tour, which includes an audio headset in your preferred language, priority entrance and more.

During its early days in the 18th century, it was a practical teaching facility for Academy of Fine Arts students next door. 

With the intention of inspiration for their creations, the academy students used the historical artwork displayed in the halls as teaching aids.

The Accademia gradually enriched its collection with paintings from monasteries and convents ordered by Pietro Leopoldo in 1786 and Napoleon Bonaparte in 1810. 

The original statue by Michelangelo David was transferred to the gallery in 1873 from Piazza della Signoria to avoid further atmospheric degradation. 

The transfer of the 17-foot-tall marble statue across the city in a unique wooden structure took a few days, with the crowds gathered around to witness and help the movement of the giant.

However, the statue was only displayed inside the museum in August 1882 when the Tribune, with a unique skylight designed by the architect Emilio de Fabris, finally finished construction. 

As a result, one of the most famous statues in the world spent nine years in a wooden box.

Thus, its most remarkable piece of art, the Galleria dell’Accademia as we know it, was inaugurated in 1882.

Over the years,  Accademia improved its collection with other magnificent artworks.

The transfer of the Prisoners of Michelangelo in 1909 saw significant changes to the arrangement of various paintings, sculptures and tapestries in the gallery. 

The Hall of the Colossus and the Byzantine-style rooms opened around the 1950s.

The hall featured thirteen hundred panel paintings and the plaster cast model of the ancient statue, the ‘Dioscuri di Monte Cavallo.’

Later, in the 1980s, the Accademia expanded its collection by adding the plaster cast models by Lorenzo Bartolini in the 19th-century room, today known as the Gipsoteca Bartolini. 

The ‘Museo degli strumenti musicali’ opened in 2001, with a remarkable collection of antique musical instruments in the Hall of Musical Instruments.

These instruments from the Cherubini Conservatory illustrate the Medici family’s genuine passion for theater, dance, and musical pleasure.

The hall of the Colossus was recently renovated in December 2013 to accommodate a more extensive and pleasurable selection of works of art from the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

The Accademia Gallery serves as a reminder of Italy’s rich cultural legacy today. In 2013, they added several works of art from the 15th and 16th centuries to The Hall of Colossus.

The Accademia Gallery is a shining example of Renaissance art and culture since it is home to some of the most well-known Renaissance masterpieces, including works of art like the Statue of David, Venus & Cupid, Coronation of the Madonna, and more. 

 

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