The beautiful Accademia Museum, or Galleria dell'Accademia, in Florence is one of the city's leading art institutions and is home to the incredibly famous and iconic “David” by Michelangelo. However, there is also much more to the museum and much more to see. If you have found a luxury villa in Florence and are planning a trip to museum, here are some more highlights that you might want to keep an eye out for!
3. Atlas, Michelangelo, c.1525–30
While Michelangelo is not the only attraction to the museum, if you are interested in him and his work and working process, it is an excellent place to visit. The Accademia is home to his most famous sculpture, paintings after lost works of his and some of his unfinished sculptures as well. These latter objects are especially interesting as Michelangelo once described how every block of marble had a figure trapped inside that was just waiting to be freed and these showcase how it really does look like trapped sculptures bursting free from inside the stone.
3. Atlas, Michelangelo, c.1525–30
While Michelangelo is not the only attraction to the museum, if you are interested in him and his work and working process, it is an excellent place to visit. The Accademia is home to his most famous sculpture, paintings after lost works of his and some of his unfinished sculptures as well. These latter objects are especially interesting as Michelangelo once described how every block of marble had a figure trapped inside that was just waiting to be freed and these showcase how it really does look like trapped sculptures bursting free from inside the stone.
The Accademia is home to four of these works, named by scholars as “The Awakening Slave”,“The Young Slave”,“The Bearded Slave” and “The Atlas (or Bound)”. Showcasing the various stages of the process and completion, some now claim that the artist actually deliberately left them incomplete to represent this eternal struggle of human beings to free themselves from their material trappings.
Atlas is a male nude who is bowed under a huge weight on his head, a trait that made scholars name him after the primordial Titan who held up the entire world on his shoulders. His head has not yet emerged from the stone and he is shown in tension, fighting upwards against the force of weight pushing down.
It is this sense of movement and tension that showcases just how dynamic Michelangelo's work and ability truly was.
Atlas is a male nude who is bowed under a huge weight on his head, a trait that made scholars name him after the primordial Titan who held up the entire world on his shoulders. His head has not yet emerged from the stone and he is shown in tension, fighting upwards against the force of weight pushing down.
It is this sense of movement and tension that showcases just how dynamic Michelangelo's work and ability truly was.
4. Awakening Slave, Michelangelo, c. 1525-30
Another of the Slave figures in the Accademia is the so-called, “Awakening Slave”. This work is even less completed than the “Atlas” figure with an, albeit, well-defined front but one that emerges from a large remainder of the original block of marble. One of the most powerful and expressive works among the group, he seems to be wriggling and fighting and actively trying to escape the marble block. Marks left in the surrounding marble are also an interesting insight into Michelangelo's process.
Another of the Slave figures in the Accademia is the so-called, “Awakening Slave”. This work is even less completed than the “Atlas” figure with an, albeit, well-defined front but one that emerges from a large remainder of the original block of marble. One of the most powerful and expressive works among the group, he seems to be wriggling and fighting and actively trying to escape the marble block. Marks left in the surrounding marble are also an interesting insight into Michelangelo's process.
