Accademia Gallery Artworks (The Displays at Accademia Gallery)
The Accademia Gallery is an art museum in Florence, Italy.
Divided into seven halls, the gallery houses some of the most well-known pieces of art in the entire world, including Michelangelo’s statue of David.
The Prisoners and St. Matthew, unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo, and several Renaissance paintings by painters like Botticelli and Lippi are among the Accademia Gallery’s other renowned pieces.
In addition to musical instruments, the museum includes a collection of historical archives.
Get a tour of the rich history of Florentine painting, sculpture and music with a guided tour of the Accademia Gallery for both art experts and enthusiasts.
Sculptures
The Accademia Gallery is well-known for its collection of Michelangelo sculptures, which includes the famous David statue.
One of the most famous main artworks at Accademia Gallery Florence and in the world, the statue is a marble sculpture over 17 feet tall.
The Accademia also houses four of Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures created for Pope Julius II’s tomb, referred to as the Prisoners.
These sculptures are regarded as some of Michelangelo’s most significant creations because they offer insight into his creative process.
The museum displays other Renaissance-era sculptures by artists like Donatello, Brunelleschi and Verrocchio.
The unfired clay model of Giambologna’s 1582 marble sculpture, Rape of the Sabine Women, will greet you at the entrance.
Additionally, you can find carefully organized rows of plaster casts and models of the most well-known works of Bartolini and Pampaloni in the Gipsoteca Bartolini (Hall of Models).
David by Michelangelo
The David, which attracts millions of art enthusiasts worldwide, is one of the most recognized sculptures in human history.
The Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet Michelangelo Buonarroti carved this absolute masterpiece of the Renaissance from a single block of white marble.
Depicting David, the biblical hero with his silhouette before his battle with the giant Goliath, the statue stands almost 14 feet (5 meters) tall under a dome in the Tribune at Gallerie dell’Accademia, Florence.
Take the guided tour to learn about the statue’s history and Michelangelo’s approach and concept of carving.
Rape of the Sabine Women Model by Giambologna
This sculpture is a plaster cast model of a famous statue, The Rape of the Sabine Women, produced in the 16th century by Flemish artist Giambologna.
The sculpture depicting three figures recounts the fabled account of how the Romans kidnapped the Sabine women.
This masterwork, created between 1579 and 1583 by Giambologna, is displayed in the Hall of the Colossus.
The original sculpture, made from a single marble block over 7 feet tall, is placed under Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria.
Prisoners or Slaves by Michelangelo
The ‘Prisoners’ or ‘Slaves’ is a series of four unfinished sculptures of male nudes displayed in the Hall of Prisoners.
Michelangelo worked on the slaves from 1520 to 1534 when he was asked to drop them due to financial restraints.
Historians named them the Awakening Slave, the Young Slave, the Bearded Slave and the Atlas (or Bound).
There are various interpretations of these statuses.
Generally, people view the Prisoners as a brave and moving metaphor that sums up the human battle for freedom and enlightenment.
Some also believe that Michelangelo purposefully left the statues in varying states of completion to symbolize humanity’s effort to break free from worldly ties.
It is best to take a guided tour of the Hall of Prisoners to uncover all the fascinating secrets surrounding those intriguing sculptures.
Emma and Julia Campbell by Lorenzo Bartolini
This chalk model by Lorenzo Bartolini depicts two Campbell sisters, Emma and Julia, having fun while dancing.
Created between 1819 and 1820, the 1.5-meter-tall model showcases Bartolini’s extraordinary artistic abilities.
Paintings
The Accademia Gallery in Florence also boasts a list of paintings at Accademia Gallery from the 13th century to the 19th century.
‘The Venus and Cupid’ by Jacopo da Pontormo and ‘The Tree of Life’ by Pacino di Buonaguida are some of the collection’s most important pieces.
You may see late-Gothic artwork by Lorenzo Monaco here and stunning altarpieces from the 1500s and 1600s.
At the Accademia Gallery, there is also a collection of other works by painters, including Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Fra Bartolomeo, Lippi, Perugino, and Bronzino.
The Cassone Adimari (ca 1450)
This finely painted panel by Lo Scheggia shows a bridal procession going through Florence’s center, with the Baptistery in the distance.
The panel’s depiction of medieval streets and exquisite brocade clothes provides insight into the traditions and wealth of Florence’s elite families in the 15th century.
It is believed that it was utilized as the front panel of a wedding box to carry a bride’s dowry of domestic items to her new home.
The panel is on display at the Hall of the Colossus.
Coronation of the Virgin by Jacopo di Cione
One of the most famous paintings at Accademia Gallery by Jacopo di Cione is also known as ‘Altarpiece of the Mint.’
The use of gold paint, intricate composition, the detailed portrayal of the robes’ draping, and the attention to the characters’ characteristics make it highly stunning.
They restored the famous painting in Florence only in 2011, and it is now on display in the Florentine Gothic section of the gallery.
Tree of Life, by Pacino di Buonaguida
Pacino di Buonaguida, an Italian painter from the 14th century, created this artwork titled ‘Tree of Life.’
Based on the Book of Genesis, the painting shows Jesus Christ perched at the summit of a tree whose twelve branches correspond to the different strands of Christianity.
The painting depicts the devil as being in a cave at the base of the tree, while the crucified Christ stands in the painting’s center, showing how the sin of Adam and Eve planted the seed for Christ’s death.
Some biblical characters, such as Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, and the prophets encircle the tree.
This artwork displayed at Florentine Gothic is a prime example of the Gothic aesthetic, which was quite popular in Italy in the fourteenth century.
Venus and Cupid by Jacopo da Pontormo
‘Venus and Cupid’ is a 1533 painting by Jacopo Carucci, known as Pontormo, based on a cartoon drawing by Michelangelo.
The painting focuses on the tale of Venus and Cupid and portrays a contract between earthly love, represented by the young Cupid and spiritual devotion, represented by the goddess Venus.
It also depicts a central theme in Michelangelo’s poetry.
The altar’s items—a puppet, a quiver and arrows, flowers, and masks—allude to the transient nature of feelings and the two-faced deception of love.
The feelings torture the soul and ultimately lead to its death.
You will find this painting in the Hall of Prisoners.
Musical Instruments
The Florence Accademia Gallery also contains a collection of musical instruments in addition to its collections of sculptures and paintings.
In the Museum of Musical Instruments, you will find a collection of over fifty musical instruments.
They are from the private collections of the grand dukes of Tuscany, Medici and Lorraine from the 17th to the 19th century.
The collection includes several antique instruments that are significant representations of the artistry of their day.
You can also experience the sounds of the musical instruments displayed here using multimedia workstations.
Tenor Viola by Antonio Stradivari
The tenor viola, a spruce and maple instrument, was made in 1690 by the skilled luthier Antonio Stradivari.
It was created for Ferdinando de’ Medici, the grand prince of Tuscany, for the Medici Quintet featuring two violins, two violas (tenor and contralto), and a cello.
The spruce pine wood viola stands out due to its exquisite craftsmanship, which includes mother-of-pearl inlay with the Medici coat-of-arms, ivory and ebony inserts and more.
Oval Spinetta by Bartolomeo Cristofori
This instrument is a spinet with a rectangular soundboard extended on both sides to form an oval shape with pointed ends.
Like a harpsichord, the music is created by stroking the strings.
It is one of Cristofori‘s oldest surviving works, designed and made by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1690 for Ferdinando de’ Medici.
Recent discoveries from the collection of Florentine antiquarian Stefano Bardini include the spinet, a precursor of the piano that is completely lost for more than three centuries.
Marble Salterio by Michele Antonio Grandi
The marble salterio, the only known surviving marble harpsichord, was constructed in 1700 by Michele Antonio Grandi and gifted to Cosimo III de Medici.
He used three different qualities of marble to construct the soundboard, casing, and blocks.
At least four other marble instruments entirely made of marble of the same period and era are known: a violin, a guitar, a salterio and a recorder.
Serpentone by Lorenzo Cerino
Created by Lorenzo Cerino in 1799, the Serpentone is a wooden instrument made of two bonded and leather-wrapped hardwood pieces.
With an elongated S-shape, six holes and a silver metal stem are fitted into the ring at the tube’s entrance.
Similar to how clarinets and flutes are played now, it used an ivory mouthpiece with a hemispherical cup.
Historical Archives
The gallery contains a collection of two historical archives, the Lorenzo Bartolini Historical Archive and the Gatti Krauss Donation.
These include records, manuscripts, drafts, legal and accounting documents, and notebooks with drawings.
These shed light on the background of the works of art and their authors displayed at the museum.
Unlike the artwork, you cannot browse these historical archival archives online; instead, you must view them in person at the museum.
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