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The Best Museums
Gallerie degli Uffizi (Florence): One of the world's top museums, the Uffizi houses some of the seminal works of the Renaissance, including Giotto's Maesta, Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Allegory of Spring, Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation, and Michelangelo's only panel painting, the Holy Family. Few rooms go by without three or four masterpieces. Thoroughly brain-draining . . . but worth it.
Museo Nazionale del Bargello (Florence): Past early Michelangelo marbles and Giambologna bronzes, the main attraction at the primary sculpture museum of the Renaissance is a room full of famous works that survey the entire career of Donatello, the greatest sculptor since antiquity.
Palazzo Pitti (Florence): The Pitti, with thousands of paintings hung thickly in the dozens of rooms of the Medici's old palace, all sumptuously frescoed and decorated, makes the Uffizi look like a preamble. Not only is room after room full of works by Raphael, Rubens, Titian, Caravaggio, Andrea del Sarto, and countless others, but once you get through the paintings, you've got the lavish Medici apartments, a costume gallery, a decorative arts collection, a modern art museum, and the baroque Boboli Gardens to see. You could spend a week here and still not be done.
Galleria dell'Accademia (Florence): The line stretches for blocks from the door, everyone waiting to get in and see Michelangelo's David, easily the most famous sculpture in the world. Once inside, you're also treated to his unfinished and powerful Slaves, along with works by Perugino, Giambologna, and Botticelli.
Palazzo Pubblico (Siena): The Museo Civico portion of Siena's medieval town hall preserves the masterpieces of the late Gothic Sienese school.
Museo Etrusco Guarnacci (Volterra): A staggering 600 Etruscan cinerary urns -- playing out, in stony relief, the Etruscans' views on death, art, and life -- fill dozens of rooms here. The tiny sarcophagi are topped with the enduring image of the Etruscan: bare-chested and comfortably pot-bellied, half reclining at a feast laid out in his or her honor.
Museo Civico (Sansepolcro): The hometown of Piero della Francesca, one of the geniuses of the early Renaissance, retains four of the master's works, including the Madonna della Misericordia and his masterpiece Resurrection of Christ . The rest of the collections are padded with works by his student Luca Signorelli, and Mannerist and baroque paintings by the likes of Il Passignano and Santi di Tito, the latter also a native of the city.
Galleria Nazionale (Perugia): Umbria's National Gallery boasts more Peruginos than it knows what to do with. It also has one of the masterpieces of his teacher, Piero della Francesca, the Polyptych of Sant'Antonio, with its Annunciation scene of remarkable depth. Duccio, Arnolfo di Cambio, Fra' Angelico, and Gentile da Fabriano add to the collections.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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