#1 – The Uffizi

The Uffizi, considered the best museum in the world, houses an extraordinary collection of masterpieces, ranging from medieval to modern times. The gallery is located on the first and second floors of a building built in the second half of the 16th century based on a design by Giorgio Vasari. What is particularly striking is the collection of paintings, which includes works by the greatest European masters. Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Rubens, just to name a few. The collection of statues and busts from the antiquity of the Medici family is also of great interest. The complex houses other important collections such as the Contini Bonacossi Collection and the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints.

#2 – Galleria dell’Accademia

Another museum not to be missed is the Galleria dell’Accademia, where you can admire some of the most important collections of paintings and sculptures in the world. These include several sculptures by Michelangelo, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the splendid statue of David, one of the most representative works of the Renaissance. In addition to Michelangelo’s masterpieces, the gallery houses other priceless sculptures such as the original clay model of the Rape of the Sabines by Giambologna and the plaster models by Lorenzo Bartolini. Not to be missed: the collection of paintings with a gold background from the thirteenth to the early fifteenth century; and the Collection of the “Luigi Cherubini” Conservatory of Florence, which brings together about fifty musical instruments.

#3 – Museo dell’Opera del Duomo

The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, founded in 1891 and then richly expanded and renovated between 2012 and 2015, houses over seven hundred works of art, ranging from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The building is part of a museum complex that also includes the Duomo, Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Baptistery of San Giovanni. Set up inside an ancient palace, it extends over six thousand square meters of surface divided into twenty-eight rooms and divided over three floors. There are preserved masterpieces by artists of the caliber of Michelangelo, Donatello, Luca della Robbia, Brunelleschi and Ghiberti. Among the pieces not to be missed are Michelangelo’s Pietà Bandini; the statue of Santa Maria Maddalena penitent by Donatello; the Gates of Paradise and the North Gate, made by Lorenzo Ghiberti.

#4 – Museo Nazionale del Bargello

Last but not least, the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, which houses wonderful collections of sculpture and “minor arts”, for the most part coming from the Medici collections. Established in 1865, it is housed in an imposing thirteenth-century building that was once the home of the Capitano del Popolo. Here you can admire some of the most important Renaissance sculptures. The museum itinerary is divided into three floors: on the ground floor is the Sala di Michelangelo with sculptures by Buonarroti, Cellini, Giambologna and Ammannati; the first floor houses the Sala di Donatello with works by the Florentine artist and the majolica sculptures by Luca della Robbia; and the top floor one of the main collections by Andrea and Giovanni della Robbia is exhibited.