January 17, 2026

January 17, 2026

We left again right after breakfast for our early reservation at the Accademia Gallery, another world famous art museum in Florence, Italy. We skip the audio guide and we get some nice tourist-free time with probably the greatest sculpture in the world, Michelangelo’s magnificent David. I have seen it before and I wanted Aimee to see it too. Maybe she will start to appreciate the art she is seeing.

The hall leading to David has a series of unfinished Michelangelo’s known as the Prisoners. Michelangelo thought he didn't carve the figures, but just released them from the stone. These were intended for a papal tomb but he got pulled away on other projects.

The Galleria has a few other exhibits too. One room contains lots of plaster casts of famous works. Humorously one is a sculptural version of Titian’s Venus famous painting we saw admired yesterday.

Oddly another small room has musical instrument history. Besides lots of violins, it has several harpsichords and pianos, especially portable Spinets. The piano was invented here around 1700 by a Medici musical craftsmen.

Aimee was ready to leave but I dragged her upstairs for a small hall devoted to medieval art. While I was checking out the art Aimee got fascinated by a video about the great skill and time needed to create these gilded artworks. I noticed that while the figures themselves were flat, the folds of the clothing were exhibiting volume and were full of detail. It was as if the robes were more important than the subjects.

We try to visit the San Marco Convent Museum but find out it is sold out while we are here. There is a special Fra Angelico exhibition going on.

On our way to our next sight we passed through the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. In  the center is an equestrian statue of a Medici duke that was made from the Turkish cannon captured during the Battle of Lepanto. Next to it is a foundling hospital where mothers could drop off unwanted babies. It was built by the nobles of Florence to minimize the moral regret of the local nobles who all had mistresses on the side.

Our next stop is at the Bargello Museum, another art treasure house. This one is housed in an old medieval town hall that became the city police station.

The main lobby has some famous pieces like the Flying Mercury we often see used in quick delivery advertisements (eg FTD). The second floor main hall is full of Donatello sculpture especially the effeminate David with a bonnet. It also has another famous David by Verrocchio.

This room also has the original two bas-relief panels of Ghiberti and Brunelleschi from the Baptistery door competition of 1401. The one on the left won. I almost missed it, but Aimee noticed this non-descript wall display.

There are many more rooms stuffed with possessions that the Medici family collected over the centuries. It included porcelain, jewelry, storage chests, and of course armor.

We then walked east to the Basilica of Santa Croce. There is a market in the piazza in front. I have to let Aimee spend some time there before I get her inside.

Santa Croce is famous for all the tombs of famous Florentines. There are almost 300, most of whom are interred under a floor slab. The prominent ones have wall monuments, including Galileo, Michelangelo, Ghiberti, and Machiavelli. Florence is proud of a lot of other erstwhile Florentines, so there are monuments and plaques for Dante, Da Vinci, and Galvani.

It is colder inside than out, so Aimee is rushing me through. We quickly peruse the chapels with Giotto frescoes and then out through the cloisters to see an early Last Supper in the Refectory. Santa Croce has flooded many dozen times over the centuries damaging much of this work.

We make our way back to central Florence to tour the Palazzo Vecchio. It has a tall tower that dominates the Florence skyline. We climb the stairs to the Hall of 500. When this building was the town hall, this room was where the leaders of Florence would assemble and vote. The walls are decorated with frescoes by Vasari, one of which is featured in Dan Brown’s book.

When the Medici duke Cosimo I took over and dissolved the Republic, he made this his Palace. We climbed more stairs to explore his living quarters. Every room has a highly decorated ceiling mostly painted with mythological scenes. A few important rooms are decorated to the floor.

The room I liked best was the Hall of Maps. In particular it has a monstrous globe. I would love to have one like it. Another hallway has the death mask of Dante, which also featured heavily in the book Inferno.

Outside in Piazza della Signoria and the adjacent loggia is a famous historical repository of Florentine sculpture. The original David once stood here. It still contains some of the finest statues and it is free, something you can’t say often in Florence. I like the Rape of the Sabine, and Perseus with Medusa the best.

We pass the Central Market loggia with its Boar fountain and then find an intimate restaurant for lunch. We are exhausted and need the nourishment and downtime. We share a Greek Salad, Tagliatelle with Tuscan Ragout, and a nice mini-bottle of tasty Chianti wine. Aimee insists we finish with Tiramisu.

Aimee is refueled so she agrees to see some more sites. We next tour the Palazzo Davanzati Museum. This is a well preserved urban tower house. The guided tours are sold out so we can only visit the second floor of this five story building. Since there is no elevator that might not be a problem.

What we do see is pretty cool and looks very authentic with wooden shutters, iron bars, and hole toilets. We spend some time with a quilt that has a medieval story woven into it.

Our last stop was at San Lorenzo Church to visit the Medici Chapel containing the tombs of the nobles of this family. We first enter the Principal Chapel. It is a vast octagon shaped room with a tomb on each side. It is all luxuriously adorned in precious stone work. It is unfinished though as only two of the five have a statue in their niche.

We finish in the New Chapel that has the tombs of the earlier Renaissance Medici. It is smaller, also unfinished but contains two monuments sculpted by Michelangelo. I don't think they were his best work.