- Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze
Infobox Museum
name = Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze
imagesize = 200
map_type =
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latitude =43.776907
longitude =11.258475
established = 1561
dissolved =
location =Florence ,Italy
type = Art academy with art gallery
visitors =
director =
curator =
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website = [http://www.accademia.firenze.it/ www.accademia.firenze.it]The Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno ("Academy of the Art of Drawing") is an art academy in
Florence ,Italy . It was the first academy ofdrawing inEurope .History
It was founded in 1561 with high patronage of the
Medici , specifically that of Cosimo I, byGiorgio Vasari ,Agnolo Bronzino andBartolommeo Ammannati , three of the central artists ofMannerism . At first the academy met in the cloisters of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata.It was taken for granted at the outset that all the members of the Accademia were male; when the Accademia welcomed
Artemisia Gentileschi to membership, it was a signal honor to a woman.Pietro Leopoldo,
Grand Duke ofTuscany , decreed in 1784 that all the schools of drawing in Florence be combined under one roof, under the direction of the Accademia, now renamed Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze ("Academy of Fine Arts, Florence") and that it was to contain a gallery of paintings by old masters to help the studies of the young artists. The Accademia, and the adjoining Gallery still occupy the premises that were assigned in via Ricasoli, a former convent and hospice. The Grand Duke also decided to include among the arts protected in this way, a conservatory of music (the Cherubini Conservatory) and, more extraordinary, a school of art restoration (the Opificio delle Pietre Dure).The Accademia Gallery
The Gallery of the Accademia di Belle Arti has housed the original "David" by Michelangelo since 1873. The sculpture was allegedly brought to the Accademia for reasons of conservation, although other factors were involved in its move from its previous outdoor location on
Piazza della Signoria . The original intention was to create a 'Michelangelo museum', with original sculptures and drawings, to celebrate the fourth centenary of the artist's birth. Today the gallery's small collection of Michelangelo's work includes his four unfinished "Prisoners", intended for the tomb ofPope Julius II , and a statue ofSaint Matthew , also unfinished. In 1939 these were joined by a "Pietà" discovered in the Barberini chapel inPalestrina , though experts now consider its attribution to Michelangelo to be dubious.Among the notable
renaissance works on display are an outstanding collection of 15th and 16th century Florentine paintings byPaolo Uccello ,Domenico Ghirlandaio ,Sandro Botticelli andAndrea del Sarto and, from the High Renaissance,Giambologna 's original plaster for the "Rape of the Sabine Women". As well as a number of Florentine Gothic paintings, the gallery houses the idiosyncratic collection ofRussia nicon s assembled by the Grand Dukes of the House of Lorraine, of which Leopoldo was one.External links
* [http://www.accademia.firenze.it/ Accademia di Belle Arti — Firenze] (in Italian and English)
* [http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/galacc.htm Guide to the Accademia gallery]
* [http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/David_by_michelangelo.html]
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