10 Best Museums in Florence
There’s actually a terms for the dizziness you may feel after viewing the vast array of blockbuster art across Florence. "Stendhal syndrome" is named after the 19th-century French artist, self-afflicted with the predicament after visiting this Tuscan city. From Botticelli's Birth of Venus to Michelangelo's David, from 13th-century castles brimming with marble sculptures to provocative contemporary installations, Florence remains a paean to craft and culture. Just be sure to brace yourself.
GettyactivityPalazzo Vecchio
Once the seat of government in Florence, Palazzo Vecchio is now an art museum—though the experience is more about the building's design and history. The courtyard has a series of stuccoes and frescoes, though you'll see more people snapping pics of the replica of Michelangelo's David. On the first floor is Salone dei Cinquecento (the Hall of the Five Hundred), the largest and most artistically important room on the property, originally decorated by Michelangelo and Leonardo. The second floor once housed the private rooms of the Medici court; today, still sumptuously furnished, it's where you'll find the Donatello’s Judith. And the 311-foot Tower of Palazzo Vecchio was, like the rest of the building, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio—who also built the Duomo.
GettyactivityOspedale degli Innocenti
Gallery of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi to showcase the masterpieces housed within—including Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio—offers a window into six centuries of history. The main exhibition, which includes artifacts, artworks, memorabilia, documents, and multimedia exhibits, presents the 600-year-long history of the Istituto degli Innocenti, with a special focus on the personal stories and everyday life of the children who lived here when the building was an orphanage.
activityMuseo Novecento
After a huge flood devastated the city of Florence in 1966, thousands of artworks were lost and damaged. Art historian Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti assembled a committee to raise worldwide public awareness and asked local and international artists to donate works to replace the ones that had been destroyed. More than 200 artists replied to the appeal and that's how Museo del Novecento was born. Dedicated to Italian art of the 20th and 21st centuries, today the museum houses more than 400 works, everything from painting to poetry.
AlamyactivityGalleria dell'Accademia
Galleria dell’Accademia is Florence’s most-visited museum right after the Uffizi Gallery, thanks largely to the original statue of Michelangelo’s famous David, housed here. You'd be remiss to skip his unfinished collection of Slaves, though, with torsos and limbs seeming to clamber their way out from marble. There are also large, mural-like pieces from Perugino, Filippino Lippi, Pontormo, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Bronzino; and, downstairs, Florentine Gothic paintings, including altarpieces by Giotto.
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Courtesy Gucci GardenactivityGucci Garden
The Gucci museum opened in 2011 on the 90th anniversary of the fashion house, and charts the evolution from its start—right here in Florence—to the enormous international brand it is today. Also onsite is the new Gucci Garden, the brainchild of Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele, with a store, exhibition rooms, and a restaurant with world's best Massimo Bottura at the helm. The museum complex—effectively, a Gucci wonderland—is in the Palazzo della Mercanzia, which was built in 1359 and restored in 1905.
AlamyactivityBargello Museum
Museo Nazionale del Bargello—which opened in 1865 by order of by royal decree, making it Italy’s first national museum—houses the city’s most important collection of Renaissance sculpture. A former barracks and prison, the building alone is impressive, never mind the masterpieces by Michelangelo and Donatello. The museum also houses bronzes, ceramics, waxes, enamels, medals, ivories, tapestries, seals, and textiles, some from the Medici collections and others from convents or private collectors. Don't miss David, by Donatello.
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AlamyactivityPalazzo Strozzi
$Palazzo Strozzi, right in the heart of the city, is the best place in Florence to see contemporary art and traveling international exhibitions. It’s ever-changing and always has bold-faced names like Marina Abramović and Ai Weiwei. This museum is less crowded than others in Florence, but it's still a cultural institution with an impressive roster of concerts, events, talks, workshops, and theatrical performances—all drawing a crowd of in-the-know aesthetes.
GettyactivityUffizi Gallery
$One of the most famous museums in the world, the Uffizi Gallery will draw you in with the allure of Botticelli's Birth of Venus and keep you within its 16th-century walls for hours. It's renowned worldwide for its unparalleled collection of sculptures and paintings from the Middle Ages to the Modern period—works by Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo, and Caravaggio among them. Visit the rooftop cafe for a some wine and a breather in between masterpieces.
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AlamyactivityPalazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens was once where the Medici family lived. Built in 1457 and designed by Brunelleschi, the building is now a museum with numerous wings and galleries—and more than 500 Renaissance paintings alone—along with the back property, known as Boboli Gardens. The collection also includes modern art, a silver museum, and the Royal Apartments with period furnishings. Between the palace, all the museums, and Boboli, you could easily spend all day here.
Courtesy Salvatore Ferragamo MuseumactivityMuseo Salvatore Ferragamo
The Salvatore Ferragamo Museum catalogs the legendary shoemaker's move to the United States and his love of Hollywood. Ferragamo worked with the best of the best, from film directors D.W. Griffith and Cecil B. DeMille to actors like Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, and Charlie Chaplin. There are two walls dedicated to iconic Italian actors in Hollywood—not only those who worked with Ferragamo, but also folks who inspired him—as well as the famous American productions (like Ben Hur) that were filmed in Italy at the time. Visiting exhibitions are a big part of the experience.
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