Michelangelo in Florence.
Michelangelo’s name is associated with many interesting places in the city. His works can be seen in copies in the squares and in originals in Florence’s museums.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564) was born in Caprese, near Arezzo, but spent his childhood and teenage years in Florence. His body rests at home in Florence’s Basilica di Santa Croce.
Museum Buonarroti: It is in the house-museum of Michelangelo’s nephew, whose interiors are a kind of homage to the genius of his uncle, that his earliest works can be found: two bas-reliefs, “The Battle of the Centaurs” and “Madonna at the Stairs”.
Basilica of Santo Spirito: On leaving Florence in 1494 Michelangelo gave Santo Spirito a gift of his work, a wooden crucifix, which can now be seen in the sacristy of the basilica.
Bargello Sculpture Museum: One of Florence’s most famous museums, this is home to four of the Florentine sculptor’s works: Bacchus, Tondo Pitti, Brutus and David/Apollo.
Academia Galleria delle Beaux-Arts: Not only is this the city’s second most visited museum, but it is also the “temple” of Michelangelo’s work. Here you can see with your own eyes the most famous sculpture of the Renaissance, David.
The Uffizi Gallery: In Room 35 of one of the most famous museums in the world you can find the only Buonarroti painting that has survived to this day, the magnificent Tondo Doni.
Palazzo Vecchio: You will find the figures of a young, energetic youth and the bearded elder he deposed. The “Genius of Victory”, like the “Prisoners”, was created for the tombstone of Pope Julius II.
Medici Tombs: The new sacristy was entirely designed by Michelangelo – the famous statues of the allegories Day, Night, Dawn and Sunset crown the tombs of Giuliano de’ Medici, Duke of Nemours, and Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino.
Museum at Florence Cathedral: Here is the Pieta Bandini, which Michelangelo created for his own tombstone. Look at the face of Nicodemus – it’s a self-portrait by the great Buonarroti.
