Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SKIP THE QUEUE & SAVE MONEY
To skip ahead of the Accademia queue in high season, book tickets ahead online (booking fee €1.50). Otherwise,
queues tend to be shorter in the afternoon, after school groups depart and day-trippers begin their treks back to
mainland hotels. Still, don't put off joining the queue too long: the last entry is 45 minutes before closing, and
proper visits take at least 90 minutes.
To save a few euro during your visit:
»
Leave any large items behind, or you'll have to drop them off at the baggage depot (€0.50 per piece).
»
The Accademia offers an audio guide (€5) that is mostly descriptive and largely unnecessary - better to
avoid the wait and just follow your bliss and explanatory wall tags.
»
The Accademia bathrooms are elegantly restored in spotless marble, so there's no need to pay €1 for iffy
public restrooms outside.
Rooms 20-24
Finales don't come any grander than the Accademia's final suite of rooms. Room 20 is
currently undergoing restorations to accommodate Gentile Bellini and Vittore Carpaccio's
Venetian versions of
Miracles of the True Cross,
thronged with multicultural merchant
crowds. After careful restoration, the original convent
chapel
(Room 23) is a serene
showstopper fronted by a
Bellini altarpiece
, with temporary shows in the center.
Ornamental splendours were reserved for the Scuola della Carita's boardroom, the
newly restored
Sala dell'Albergo
. Board meetings would not have been boring here, under a
lavishly carved ceiling and facing Antonio Vivarini's wrap-around 1441-50 masterpiece,
filled with fluffy-bearded saints keeping a watchful eye on boardroom proceedings.
Titian closes the Accademia with his touching 1534-39
Presentation of the Virgin
.
Here, a young, tiny Madonna trudges up an intimidating staircase while a distinctly Vene-
tian crowd of onlookers point to her example - yet few of the velvet- and pearl-clad mer-
chants offer alms to the destitute mother, or even feed the begging dog.
