The visit will allow visitors to get closer to the exhibition and the masterpieces on display, and to explore the choices made by the naval engineer, who established intense personal as well as professional relationships with many of the artists featured here. It will also provide an opportunity to reflect on the work of these key figures in Italian art during one of the darkest periods of our recent history. Their works reveal a commitment to civil and political issues, or at times a quiet ethical and existential struggle, shrouded in a prophetic role. The exhibition thus aims to bring to light the underlying stories of a civil and moral resistance that becomes apparent only by looking beyond what is immediately visible.
The tour begins with the exterior and the architectural peculiarities of the building (designed in 1444 by Michelozzo, with well-known variants by Michelangelo) before continuing on to the courtyard and garden to pass in review all the stages in the Medicis’ rise to power with Cosimo the Elder, Piero the Gouty and Lorenzo the Magnificent, men of stellar importance in culture and politics, men who wrote the history of the 15th-century city and who promoted the birth of the Florentine Renaissance: one outstanding witness to their acumen is the precious Chapel of the Magi on the first floor, marvellously frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli. The tour concludes with a visit to the sparkling Hall of Mirrors for an in-depth look at the ‘second life’ of the palazzo, which began when it was purchased by the Riccardi family in the mid-1600s and became their residence.
In this museum you can feel the passion leading the antique dealer and connoisseur Stefano Bardini in acquiring such a broad quantity of works of art. The tour inviterà to get acquainted of his extraordinary collection, from the main masterpieces – as the Charity by Tino da Camaino and the Madonna of the Rope Makers by Donatello – to valuable pieces of different crafts as chests, ceramics, carpets, arms, small bronzes.
The convent of Santa Maria del Carmine keeps a real treasure of Renaissance art: that is the Brancacci Chapel, commissioned by Felice Brancacci and frescoed by the great masters Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi. The tour will help to analyze the scenes of the Stories of Saint Peter, focusing the attention on the stylistic and structural innovations introduced by the young Tommaso, nicknamed Masaccio because of his carelessness – as Giorgio Vasari reports – but become universally known for his revolutionary art.
The tour leads the visitors to comprehend an extraordinary document of the Dominican Order’s history but also a fundamental chapter of the city of Florence. This is why a special attention will be devoted to the history of the order, whose theological character is deeply embedded in all the architectural and artistic accomplishments of the convent. The tour will also focus on the active participation of the citizens since the foundation of the complex, that was supported thanks to donations and patronage and was to involve the greatest artists of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance: Giotto, Masaccio, Filippo Brunelleschi, Paolo Uccello, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Filippino Lippi.
This visit allows to approach the arts of the 20th century, with a specific attention to Italy and Florence: a peculiar focus is dedicated to the Alberto della Ragione Collection – including great masterpieces and promoting the understanding of the main historical events in between the two World Wars – and the bequest of the Florentine painter Ottone Rosai. Furthermore, the several exhibitions and special projects let to explore the variety of the arts of the XXth and the XXIst centuries, typified by a wide variety of languages, themes and researches.
Palazzo Vecchio is the heart of Florence, a symbol of the city since medieval times to the modern days. Made in 1299 in which it acted as a seat for the governing of citizens, the building started its golden age the moment when the Medici family moved into the Palazzo, transforming it into the beautiful palace of extraordinary richness that it is today. The guided visit pulls you into the imense wealth, extraordinary decorations, masterpieces and even an access to a secret passage through the beautiful camerino of Bianca Cappello, second wife of the Granduke Francesco I de’Medici.
This tour allows to visit some particularly precious places: among them the stairway built in the thick walls by the will of Gualtieri di Brienne; the Studiolo of Francesco I de’ Medici, a very elegant treasure “of rare and precious things” and the Scrittoio of his father Cosimo I (more known as Tesoretto); in conclusion the huge trussed structure that supports the panelled ceiling of the Salone del Cinquecento.