Florence Museums Accademia Gallery

It was the Grand-Duke Pietro Leopoldo of the Lorraine family who founded in 1784 the Academy for the study of the arts, and furnished it with a paintings gallery together with the musical Conservatory Cherubini.

The Gallery houses a number of important masterpieces by Michelangelo (1475-1564): the Prigioni originally executed for the mausoleum of Pope Julius II in Rome and then in 1583 arranged in the Grotta of Buontalenti inside the Boboli Gardens; the San Matteo; the group of Pietà di Palestrina.
The Tribune is home to the David (1501-1504), sculptued by the still young artist. The statue was originally set up in the Signoria Square as symbol of the liberty of Florence, then replaced with a marble copy in 1873 and transferred to the Gallery.
On display in the Gallery are also works of the Florentine painting of the period spanning the 13th-16th centuries which complete the visit to the Uffizi collection.

The Gallery of Accademia includes also the Museum of Musical Instruments, the collection of Medicean and Lorenese old instruments (17th-19th) of the Conservatory Cherubini.