RICCARDIANA] LIBRARY

ADDRESS: - Via Ginori, 10

DESCRIPTION:

The Riccardiana Library is one of the most famous libraries in , a public library located in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, in via Ginori, near the San Lorenzo Market. Close to this there is another library, called Moreniana, they share the same space but the two parties are totally independent of each other, with different administrations.

RELEVANCE:

The special access to the offices and to the private rooms of the prefect allows the guests to visit: the salon of Charles VIII, the gallery of stained glass that opens onto the courtyard of CONTACTS: , the Music Room, and the terrace that offers unusual views of San Lorenzo. It’s also possible have a look of the famous DIRECTOR: Dott.ssa Giovanna Lazzi spiral staircase designed by the architect Ferdinando Tacca in the Ph. +39 055 293385 middle of the seventeenth century (not available for security reasons), which, with its sinuous form rises from the ground floor EXHIBIT: M.Luisa Migliore up to the roof of the building. The tour ends in front of the Ph. +39 055 212586 polychrome wooden Crucifix, carved by the sculptor Don Romualdo and Rossella Giovannetti Ph. +39 055 212586 painted by Neri di Bicci, a work that comes from the monastery of the Augustinian nuns of San Gaggio recently been restored. http://www.riccardiana.firenze.sbn.it/

Ph. +39 055 212586/293385

MORENIANA LIBRARY

ADDRESS:Palazzo Medici Riccardi - Via Ginori, 10

DESCRIPTION:

The Moreniana library is located in Florence in Palazzo Medici Riccardi, it’s specialized on the history of Florence.This library share some of its spaces with another library called Riccardiana, but they are two different institutions both from the administrative and the organizational point of view, with different access. The Moreniana is managed directly by the Province that also has its historic headquarters and other offices in the building.

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The library was founded in the eighteenth century from the CONTACTS: collections of canonical Domenico Moreni, passionate bibliophile

who devoted his life to the collection and study of books. The

collection Moreni is the main fund together with a part of the Ph: 0552760331 - 0552760334 library of Domenico Maria Manni, which was purchased by the E-mail: [email protected] Provincial Deputation of Florence in 1870 by Peter Bigazzi, director of the Accademia della Crusca, which had bought it to preserve the collection. The library collections have been enriched over the time by other acquisitions. It was opened to

the public in 1942.

MARUCELLIANA LIBRARY

INDIRIZZO: Via Cavour 43-47 - 50129 Firenze

DESCRIZIONE:

The Marucelliana Library is a public library in Florence with access from Via Cavour. Established by the will of Abbot Francis Marucelli, from which it is named, is the result of the donation of his rich and large personal library. Alessandro, the nephew of Marucelli,commissioned the construction of the building to the architect Alessandro Dori. The Library which was open to the public September 18, 1752, becoming the first library open to the general culture to a broad audience as you can still read the inscription on the facade:“Bibliotheca Marucellorum publicae maxime pauperum utility”(Library of Marucelli for public use,

especially the poor).

CONTACTS: RELEVANCE: http://www.maru.firenze.sbn.it/ In Marucelliana Library there are two busts: one representative

marble of Francesco Marucelli by the sculptor Pietro Bracci e-mail: [email protected] (1749), and a carved plaster depicting Giacomo Leopardi by the

Florentine Cecioni Adriano (1885). In the room called Tribuna Ph. +39 05 52 72 22 00 / there is a portrait of Francesco Marucelli attributed to the 21 06 02 / 21 62 43 Flemish painter Canonical (XVII).

LAURENZIANA LIBRARY

ADDRESS: Piazza San Lorenzo n° 9

DESCRIPTION:

The importance of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, with its collection of nearly 11,000 manuscripts, is based mainly on two converging factors, both extraordinary: the specific nature of the Library's holdings and the character of its building, which was planned and partly realized by Buonarroti. The story of this Library, from its core collection the Medici's private library to the various acquisitions which followed, has in fact been influenced by a constant aim.

RELEVANCE:

Vestibule: This is the Vestibule or entrance-hall of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, the library whose core collection comprised the manuscripts collected by Cosimo the Elder (1389- 1464) with the help of some of the most famous humanists of the time. CONTACTS: The reading room: hosts two series of wooden benches, the so- called plutei, which functioned as lecterns as well as book- Ph.:055 210760 shelves. The collection once kept here is unique for its philological and artistic value. http://www.bml.firenze.sbn.it/

Tribuna D'Elci:this Rotunda was added to the original library

planned by Michelangelo in the first half of the 19th century in order to house the rich book collection, once belonging to the Florentine bibliophile and scholar Angelo Maria D'Elci (Florence 1754 - Vienna 1824), to the Laurenziana in 1818.

The Canons' cloister

UFFIZZI LIBRARY

ADDRESS: Loggiato degli

DESCRIPTION:

The library, which was founded in the second half of the eighteenth century by the Grand Duke Peter Leopold, was housed up to 1998 in the part of Vasari’s complex that was originally the Ridotto or foyer of the Medici Theatre. The new premises were opened on 16 December 1998 in the renovated areas previously occupied by the Biblioteca Magliabechiana. The library, which conserves numerous manuscripts from the collections of the Florentine museums, became specialised in the art history sector to respond to the demands of study and documentation of the related museums.

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The overall number of titles is 78,600. CONTACTS: These include: 470 manuscripts, 5 incunabula, 192 sixteenth- century books, 1,445 books printed between 1601 and 1800 and PH. + 39 055 2388647 1,136 periodicals (including around 140 still on subscription).

E-mail: [email protected] http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it

ACCADEMY OF FINE ARTS

ADDRESS: Via Ricasoli, 66

DESCRIPTION:

The Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno, or "academy and company of the arts of drawing", was founded in 1563 by Cosimo I de' Medici under the influence of . It was made up of two parts: the Company was a kind of guild for all working artists, while the Academy was for more eminent artistic personalities of Cosimo’s court, and supervised artistic production in . It was later called the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. At first, the Academy met in the cloisters of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata.

Artists including Michelangelo Buonarroti, Francesco da Sangallo, Agnolo Bronzino, Benvenuto Cellini, Giorgio Vasari, , and Giambologna were members. Most members of the Accademia were male; Artemisia Gentileschi was the first woman to be admitted.

In 1784 Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, combined all the schoolsRELEVANCE of drawing: in Florence into one institution, the new CONTACTS: Accademia di Belle Arti, or academy of fine arts. It was housed inThe a Galleriaformer convent dell'Accademia in via Ricasoli, was founded premises in 1784; which it itadjoins still the http://www.accademia.firenze.it/it/ occupies.Accademia di Belle Arti in via Ricasoli, but is otherwise unconnected with it. It has housed the original David by Ph +39 055 215449 Michelangelo since 1873. The ancient hospital of Saint +39 055 2398660 Matthew,that host the academy was built between 1388 and 1410. In the library of the institute, founded in 1801, are preserved original engravings, manuscripts, sixteenth, drawings and documents since 1784.

NATIONAL CENTRAL LIBRARY

ADDRESS: Piazza dei Cavalleggeri, 1

DESCRIPTION:

The Library originated from the collection of Antonio Magliabechi, consisting of some 30,000 volumes and bequeathed to the city of Florence in 1714. In 1885, it took the name of National Library and, in 1875, appellative of Central. Originally housed in the Palazzo della Dogana, adjoining the Uffizi, the Library was transferred to its present, specially built headquarters in 1935.

RELEVANCE:

Sala Dante: one of the Monumental Rooms of the Library, designed to accommodate Exhibitions and events of particular importance. On the first floor of the building is accessible through two monumental staircases. Area: 187.6 square meters where even the hallways Capacity: 100 people standing, 80-90 to sit

CONTACTS: Sala Galileo: with its circular plan is located on the ground floor of the Library and is designed to host cultural events. http://www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/ Capacity: 100 people, seats 80-90 The Michelangelo Room is located on the ground floor of the PH. +39 055 24 91 9322 Library and is usually used for training courses. Capacity: 40 seats

Chiostro Brunelleschiano: usually closed to the public, is on the first floor of the National Library and is adjacent to the Pazzi . Square meters Capacity: up to 400.

MILITARY GEOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE

ADDRESS: Via Cesare Battisti, 10

DESCRIPTION:

An official organ of the State for cartography, the Institute is heir to the military Topographical Offices of the States existing prior to ’s unification. It was established in 1872, under the name of Istituto Geografico Militare, to satisfy the geodetic, topographical and cartographical needs of the Kingdom of Italy. In 1882 it assumed its present name. Since its foundation its activity has consisted of geometric classifying of the territory, land surveying, medium-scale map-making and producing documentation for the public.

RELEVANCE:

Various collections are conserved by the Institute. The cartographic collection (around 36,000 items) is divided into the old papers of the pre-unification States (up to about 1860); the CONTACTS: IGM "historical series", which includes maps of the entire national territory on the scale of 1:25,000, 1:50,000 and Ph. +39 055 27321 1:100,000, arranged from the Unification of Italy to the 1930s; Ph. +39 055 2732229 maps of the former Italian colonies and of places pertinent to http://www.igmi.org/ Italian interests (series without a homogeneous cover).

The library is decorated with two frescoes depicting episodes from the life of the Order of frati Serviti.

GIPSOTECA

ADDRESS: Piazzale di Porta Romana, 9

DESCRIPTION:

The Institute of art in Porta Romana, was founded in 1869 as a school of carving, transformed in 1880 in a school for the decorative and industrial arts. Since 1924, the Institute is located in the royal stables of the palace of , just outside the Porta Romana, in a park close the . Actually the plaster casts museum hosted an art school.

RELEVANCE:

The Plaster Cast Gallery of the Art Institute of Florence has the most interesting collection of plaster models in Italy, in the CONTACTS: museum has been collected important sculptural masterpieces from the fourteenth century until the twentieth century especially Ph. +39 055 220521 representative the art of the Florentine . http://www.isa.firenze.it/gipsoteca The plasters are more than 3,000, some of considerable size, and give visitors the opportunity to have an extraordinary overview of the history of European sculpture.

CHURCH AND MUSEUM OF

ADDRESS:

DESCRIPTION:

This unique and extraordinary monument, encompassing both civil and religious functions, has now been reopened to the public. Antonio Paolucci has defined it as a “Temple of Work”, because it was built by the city Guilds responsible for the prosperity of the city of Florence, which were symbolically represented by it.

It was also, as recalled by the fondly remembered Mayor of the city, Piero Bargellini, “the place in which the Grain of the Comune was stored: the Grain of the people and of the poor, provisions which the provident decrees of the Republic sought to defend from speculation at all times, and in particular during times of famine”.In the middle of the fourteenth century the granary was consecrated for Christian worship.

RELEVANCE:

In the Museum on the first floor are the original sculptures from

CONTACTS: the exterior. These were commissioned from the most famous Florentine artists in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries for

the niches on the four sides of the imposing building in “pietra Ph. +39 055 2388625 forte”, positioned half-way between the Palazzo della Signoria E-mail: and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. On the second floor [email protected] http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it of the Museum, above the construction, one can observe a remarkable, unparalleled panorama of Florence. In the interior of the church we can admire the magnificent marble tabernacle of the Madonna delle Grazie.

MUSEO DELLA SPECOLA

ADDRESS: Via Romana, 17

DESCRIPTION :

Museum of Zoology and Natural History, best known as , is a museum in Florence, central Italy, located next to the Pitti Palace. The name Specola means observatory, a reference to the astronomical observatory founded there in 1790. It now forms part of the Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze.

The museum has deep ties with history; parts of the collection can be traced back to the Medici Family. It is known for its collection of wax anatomical models from the 18th century. It is the oldest scientific Museum of Europe.

RELEVANCE:

This museum is located in the former Palazzo Torrigani, near the Palace. The museum was founded in 1771 by Grand Duke Peter Leopold to publicly display the large collection of natural curiosities such as fossils, animals, minerals and exotic plants acquired by several generations of the Medici. At the time of its opening, and for the first years of the 19th century, it was the CONTACTS: only scientific museum or wunderkammer of its kind specifically created for the public to view. It opened on 21 February 1775 to the general public. Ph. +39 055 205 5930

Ph. +39-055 2756444 Today the museum spans 34 rooms and contains not only zoological E-mail: [email protected] subjects, but also a collection of anatomical waxes, an art developed in Florence in the 17th century for the purpose of teaching medicine. This collection is very famous worldwide for the incredible accuracy and realism of the details, copied from real corpses.

MARINO MARINI MUSEUM

ADDRESS: piazza San Pancrazio

DESCRIPTION:

The Marino Marini Museum is situated in the heart of the historical centre of Florence - in the area between Via della Vigna Nuova and Piazza - and it occupies the former San Pancrazio’s Church. The building has been desecrated several times until 1988 when the Marino Marini Museum was open The Marino Marini Museum were first one in Florence which would combine antiquity and contemporary languages.

The arrangement of the museum space, In respect of the legibility of the three-dimensionality of the sculptures, has been designed to accompany the visitors through different paths that allow them to go round and round Marini’s works, approaching them from diverse angles and perspectives.

RELEVANCE:

The Rucellai Chapel: or Sacellum of the Holy Sepulchre, located in the left aisle of the Church of San Pancrazio, was constructed

CONTACTS: in several stages and Alberti’s intervention, commissioned by Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, represented the final phase which

attributed Alberti with the ultimate design and construction. Ph. +39 055 219432 Leon Battista Alberti found himself faced with a complex pre- http://www.museomarinomarini.it/hom existing structure which partially conditioned his building e.php projects. Beginning with the original nucleus dating from the 14th century he was able to create an architectural concept with all the characteristics of the pure Renaissance style; in longitudinal section it represented a type of Anastasis for the sacellum which he was to create within the chapel reproducing the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.