Archive for 'Museums & Galleries'

If you are planning a visit to the Uffizi Gallery, or Galleria degli Uffizi, in Piazza della Signoria, we suggest that you seek out the works of Botticelli in the gallery, in particular.

The collection is home to some of his most famous and beautiful works that he ever produced and, as such, is a particularly good place to visit for both Botticelli fans and those with a casual interest alike. Just find a wonderful holiday rental in Florence and drop by.

The Uffizi is one of the oldest and most famous art museums in Europe and was originally begun under Vasari for Cosimo I de' Medici in 1560. The name comes from the Italian word for “offices” which is what the building was intended to house when it was first constructed. More and more space was dedicated to the display of artworks over time until that became its primary function and, in 1765, it was officially opened to the public.

Most likely, anyone who has found a luxury villa in Florence and is planning a trip to the city has already made plans to visit the Palazzo Pitti and pencilled it into the itinerary. However, if we might, we would make a suggestion. Take a whole day for the excursion, take your time and make sure to set some aside for the Gallery of Modern Art.

The Palazzo Pitti is a vast and elaborate Renaissance palace in the city of Florence. It was originally the luxury home of a wealthy banker called Luca Pitti but was later bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became their primary residence.

Today it belongs to the state and is open to the public. The palace itself is an important and intriguing tourist attraction and the surrounding Boboli Gardens are also well worth a visit, however, that is not nearly where the cultural and historic riches of the building end: it is also home to the Palatine Gallery, Silver Museum, Gallery of Modern Art and several other gallery spaces and exhibitions.

It is probably readily apparent to anyone interested in Italy or anyone who reads this blog regularly that there is no shortage of museums in Florence and rich art collections, in particular, are abundant. However, we are keen on tracking down attractions that are a little off the beaten track, a little less obvious and devoid of the intense tourist crowds that can plague other parts of the city.

With this in mind, the Horne Foundation Museum seems like a perfect alternative to the likes of the Uffizi for those who have already been, can't stomach the crowds or who merely like going to places that are a little less commonly visited. Just find a luxury villa near Florence in Florence and drop by for yourself.

The Horne Museum was the last will and testament of Herbert Percy Horne, a London architect and educated gentleman who had far-reaching interests across a range of cultural exploits from literature to music.

The Cappella Bacci is a chapel located in the apse of 14th-century Basilica di San Francesco, a single-nave building in Arezzo dedicated to St Francis and built reflecting the values typical of the mendicant orders of the day.

Work was begun in the second half of the thirteenth century and completed in the fourteenth, with a campanile added in the sixteenth century. Both exterior and interior are somewhat grave and austere, though the interior is a richer and less intensely pared back place.

The exterior is expressed with a roughly textured stone facade without any real ornamentation, while the interior is accented with niches containing fourteenth-century and Renaissance ornamentation and Gothic chapels.

One among these chapels is particularly famous: the Bacci Chapel, and the reason for its recognition and fame? It is home to a cycle of incredible frescoes by the famous Renaissance painter Piero della Francesca. Just find a luxury villa in Arezzo and drop by to see it for yourself.

Donatello, or Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, is one of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance and one of the most well-known names in art history. An Early Renaissance sculptor and one of the representative artists of Florence, he was born in the city around 1386 and worked prolifically there his entire life, bar a period in which he worked in Padua for the heirs of the recently deceased and famous condottiero Erasmo da Narni. Due to his long life and career and strong connection to his home town, a large body of his works still exists in the city to this day.

Exploring Florence allows one to accurately and closely explore the breadth and width of this great artist's life and career. While his name stands above many other artists in fame, his specific artworks are less well-known and most people would be hard pressed to name one, unlike the ouevre of some of the other big names of the Renaissance, such as Michelangelo and Da Vinci. Just find a luxury villa in Florence and get familiar with the potentially unfamiliar works of this familiar name.