The Accademia Gallery was originally established in 1563, in Europe, as the first school in Europe to teach the fundamentals

of drawing, sculpture and painting. Notable for its fine collections, the Accademia Gallery has been considered the depository of all the other galleries and is a museum in its own right, of paintings and sculptures. The gallery take its name from the Accademia delle Belle Arti (Art Accademy) who opened the building and shared the sites until few years ago (2004). The Accademia Gallery situated on Via Ricasoli, 60, exhibits the genius of the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo. In 1784, the Duke, converted the ancient Monastery San Matteo and the convet San Niccol di Cafaggio to house the Gallery so students could study the greatest works of the past. Initially the museum was operating as didactic and restoration art center. It had a key role for the artistic life of the city only after the fall of the Serenissima in 1797, the foundation saved many and many operas from the sack of churches and palaces, without them all those could have scattered and lost around the world. This huge building has the form of a Latin-cross church. The Accademia Gallery stands on a site formerly occupied by the ancient Monastery of San Matteo and Convent of San Niccol di Cafaggio whose grounds covered the entire area lying between Piazza Santissima Annunziata and Via Ricasoli. From 1980 onwards, the Gallery underwent various large-scale extensions: in 1985, the works of the professors of the 19th-century Academy were exhibited in the huge hall on the ground floor, known as the Salone delle Toscane; also on permanent display here the collection of plaster casts donated to the Italian State by the heirs of the sculptor, Lorenzo Bartolini, after his death in 1850. Bartolini's works have been joined by the plaster casts of another great 19th-century Tuscan sculptor, Luigi Pampaloni. On the first floor, four rooms, not previously used for permanent displays, now house the precious collection of Late Gothic Florentine art and the rare collection of Russian icons originating from the private collections of the Grand Dukes of the Lorraine family. The nucleus of the collection was formed in 1784 when the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo donated to the Accademia a group of antique paintings belonging to various schools of art and intended to serve as models for the students. In 1785, and in 1808-1810, the Gallery's collection was enlarged through the acquisition of works following the suppression of religious orders during that period. The side wings and the Galleria dei Prigioni are located in what was formerly the medieval Hospital of San Matteo, while the Tribune was built between 1873 and 1882 to house the statue of David according to a design by the architect Emilio De Fabris. In 1873, the David formerly standing in front of Palazzo Vecchio, in Piazza della Signoria, was moved to the Gallery. Exposure to atmospheric pollutants had caused considerable damage to Michelangelo's masterpiece, but this was not the only motive for its transfer to the Academy. In fact, preparations were being made for a great exhibition on Michelangelo to be held in 1875 on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his birth, after which the intention was

to establish a museum on Michelangelo containing original works, casts, and drawings. From then on the Accademia began to turn into a Michelangelo Museum. The Piet rediscovered in the Barberini Chapel of Palestrina was acquired in 1939 although many modern experts now cast doubts upon its attribution to Michelangelo. The collection of the panels with gold backgrounds housed in the Byzantine Rooms on the ground floor and in the four first-floor rooms provide an ample panorama of art in Florence during the period from Giotto to Masaccio. The works include the the panels illustrating the Stories of the Life of Christ and of St Francis by Taddeo Gaddi, St Laurence and St Bartholomew by Bernardo Daddi, and the Pentecostal triptych by Andrea Orcagna. Works of particular interest are the Adimari Chest, attributed to Giovanni di ser Giovanni also known as Lo Scheggia, St Stephen between Saints Jacob and Pietro del Ghirlandaio, The Madonna and Child with the Child St John and two angels by Botticelli, the Assumption of the Virgin by Pietro Perugino, the Venus and Cupid by Jacopo Pontormo. The Accademia Gallery invites to view her amazing collection of art Tuesday to Sunday 8.15 a.m. to 6.50 p. m. (the last admission is 30 minutes before closing time). Also the museum offers service of transport by bus. The ticket price is 8 euro for adults and 4 for childrens, these can be reserved at : 055294-883 or www. Firenzemusei.it