Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Cappella Brancacci
MAP
CHAPEL
GOOGLE MAP
( 055 276 82 24; www.musefirenze.it ; Piazza del Carmine 14; adult/reduced €6/4.50; 10am-4.30pm
Wed-Sat & Mon, 1-4.30pm Sun) Fire in the 18th century all but destroyed 13th-century Basilica
di Santa Maria del Carmine MAP GOOGLE MAP , but fortunately it spared the magnificent fres-
coes in its Cappella Brancacci, to the right of the church entrance. Visits are by guided
tour (20 minutes, every 20 minutes) and advance reservations are recommended in season
given only 30 people at a time are allowed in.
This chapel is a treasure of paintings by Masolino da Panicale, Masaccio and Filippino
Lippi. Masaccio's fresco cycle illustrating the life of St Peter is considered among his
greatest works, representing a definitive break with Gothic art and a plunge into new
worlds of expression in the early stages of the Renaissance. The Expulsion of Adam and
Eve from Paradise and The Tribute Money , both on the left side of the chapel, are his
best-known works. Masaccio painted these frescoes in his early twenties, taking over from
Masolino, and interrupted the task to go to Rome, where he died, aged only 27. The cycle
was completed some 60 years later by Filippino Lippi. Masaccio himself features in his St
Peter Enthroned ; he's the one standing beside the Apostle, staring out at the viewer. The
figures around him have been identified as Brunelleschi, Masolino and Alberti. Filippino
Lippi also painted himself into the scene of St Peter's Crucifixion , along with his teacher,
Botticelli.
Palazzo Pitti
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( www.polomuseale.firenze.it ; Piazza Pitti; adult/reduced Galleria Palentina & Galleria d'Arte Moderna
€8.50/4.25, Museo degli Argenti & Galleria del Costume €7/3.50; 8.15am-6.50pm Tue-Sun summer,
shorter hr winter) Banker Luca Pitti commissioned Brunelleschi to design this palace in
1457, but by the time it was completed waning family fortunes forced them to sell it to the
Medici. It later became the residence of the city's rulers and, from 1865 until 1919, the
residence of the Savoy royal family. Several art museums can be found inside.
Exquisite amber carvings, ivory miniatures, glittering tiaras and headpieces, silver pill
boxes and various other gems 'n jewels are displayed in the ground-floor Museo degli Ar-
genti MAP GOOGLE MAP (Silver Museum; 8.15am-6.50pm summer, shorter hr rest of yr, closed 1st &
last Mon of month) , a series of elaborately frescoed audience chambers, some of which host
temporary exhibitions. Notable (but not always open) is the Sala di Giovanni da San Gio-
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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