The Galleria dell’Accademia is an art museum that houses many famous sculptures, paintings, and musical instruments. The museum was founded in 1784 by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo to be originally used as a teaching facility for the nearby Academy of Fine Arts. The hallways were used to display art pieces for the students to observe and study.
One of the most famous statues housed in the museum is Michelangelo’s David. This is a 14ft marble statue that was built by 26 year old Michelangelo in 1501. Other sculptors were asked to complete this project before Michelangelo, but both rejected it due to the amount of imperfections the slab of marble had. The marble was abandoned for 25 years in a courtyard before Michelangelo accepted the project.
The sculpture depicts David from the story of David and Goliath that is told in the first book of Samuel. David, a young Israelite, agrees to go up against Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, with only a rock, a sling, and his faith in God. David ends up killing Goliath by hitting him in the face with a rock and cutting off his head. While other artists in the past had portrayed David after his battle with Goliath, Michelangelo decided to take a different approach. Michelangelo sculpted David right before the battle to show David’s concentration, vulnerability, and courage.
After more than two years of barely eating and sleeping with his shoes on, Michelangelo finally finished the sculpture. The sculpture was originally intended to be placed up in a cathedral, but the members of the Vestry Board decided that it deserved better than that. After much consideration, the sculpture was placed in the political heart of Florence in the Piazza della Signoria. In order to move the statue half a mile from Michelangelo’s work space to the Piazza della Signoria, 40 men were required, and it took 4 days. The statue was later moved to the Galleria dell’Accademia in 1873 in order to protect it from environmental factors. The museum also houses some of Michelangelo’s other work such as the Prisoners, which consists of four unfinished sculptures, and the unfinished statue of Saint Matthew.
The museum also has a significant collection of unique musical instruments that belong to the Cherubini Conservatory. Visitors can learn about how Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano for the Medici family in 1699. Cristofori spent his life creating musical instruments, and along with the piano, he also created the spinnets and the harpsichords. Visitors of the museum are able to hear what the first piano sounded like as well as observe the oldest preserved piano in the world.
The Galleria dell’Accademia has about 1.5 million visitors per year. People come from all over the world to see the works of Michelangelo, Uccello, Botticelli, and Ghirlandaio. Today we will get to be one of the lucky visitors that have the opportunity to observe and admire the infamous works that the museum contains.
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