Galleria dell’Accademia

Although Lorenzo il Magnifico ran an informal art school, the idea died with him until 1562, when Cosimo I and sculptor Baccio Bandinelli founded the Accademia, the first formal academy of art and architecture in the world, which did away with the old artist-pupil relationship in favour of the more impersonal (and state controlled) approach.

The Accademia’s Gallery was founded by Grand Duke Pietro Leopold in 1784 to provide students with examples of art from every period. In 1935 its building was graced with the loggia from the former hospital of San Matteo, a work inspired by the Spedale degli Innocenti, complete down to the della Robbia lunettes. The Accademia’s street, Via Ricasoli, makes a beeline for the Duomo, but on most days the view is obstructed by crowds milling here. In the summer the queues are as long as those at the Uffizi, everyone anxious to get a look at Florence's most famous statue, Michelangelo’s David.

Hall of the Colossus