Unofficial visitor guide · Florence
Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze · Google Maps
Official audio guide · English Yes · 7 languages · €6
Most people come to the Galleria dell'Accademia (Accademia Gallery) for Michelangelo's David, but around 550 works are on display. Its audio guide comes in seven languages. If yours isn't one of them, or you'd rather have the labels read to you, here is what helps.
Independent guide by the makers of Tales of Museums. Not affiliated with the Galleria dell'Accademia.
Checked on 15 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Accademia website before you go.
Checked on 15 October 2026 from the sources linked above. Museums change their guides and rules; confirm on the official Accademia website before you go.
Swipe for the works and stories worth knowing before you go.
Of all the large sculptures credited to Michelangelo, the museum says this is the only one no source or archive mentions, and the carving on its back shows the marble came from an ancient building. According to Finestre sull'Arte, it was bound for New York's Met until Italy blocked the export; Gerolamo Gaslini paid 4.5 million lire.
galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: Palestrina Pietà · Finestre sull'Arte: Palestrina's Pietà
In September 1991 a man took a hammer to the second toe of David's left foot. According to AP, tourists pocketed chips until guards got them back, and the toe was rebuilt from four pieces. According to The Guardian, samples from it traced the marble to Carrara's Fantiscritti quarries: mediocre stone full of tiny holes.
Deseret News (AP), 23 Oct 1991: Art doctors repair toe on Michelangelo statue · The Guardian (reprinted by History News Network, 29 Aug 2005)
The David was not all white. The museum says three parts were gilded: the garland in his hair, the tree trunk behind his right leg and the sling. According to the V&A, the trunk and sling look rough, which would have helped the gold stick. Look for the coarser surface there.
galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: Michelangelo's David · V&A: the restoration of Michelangelo's David
Stradivari made this tenor viola in 1690 for Grand Prince Ferdinando de' Medici, with the Medici arms inlaid in mother-of-pearl. Under the later Habsburg-Lorraine rulers many string instruments had their necks reset for brighter, higher notes. The museum says this is the only Stradivari in the world still perfectly intact.
galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: Tenor viola, Antonio Stradivari
In 1873 the David travelled from Piazza della Signoria in a padded wood-and-iron frame that ran on rails. According to Finestre sull'Arte, the trip took seven days, moving only from 4 to 11 am because of the heat. Then it sat in a wooden box for nine years, until Emilio De Fabris's Tribune was built to house it.
galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: The history of the Galleria · Finestre sull'Arte: 150 years of the David at the Accademia
Pontormo painted this around 1533 from a Michelangelo cartoon, for the banker Bartolomeo Bettini's bedroom. Duke Alessandro's men seized it for Palazzo Vecchio, and drapery was painted over Venus from breasts to mid-thigh. The restorer Ulisse Forni removed it in 1852, so the nude you see is how Pontormo left it.
This 1716 Stradivari was meant to be golden yellow, but someone painted it over in reddish-brown. That repaint, plus a lack of the wear seen on violins of its age, made experts doubt it was genuine. The museum says scientific and stylistic tests have since confirmed it is a Stradivari.
galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: Violin, Antonio Stradivari, 1716
This oval spinet is the oldest surviving instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the Medici instrument-keeper credited with inventing the piano. Lost for over three centuries, it turned up in the collection of Florentine dealer Stefano Bardini. Nearby, Domenico Del Mela's 1739 upright is the oldest upright piano in existence.
galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: Oval spinet · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: Upright piano
Michelangelo's four Prisoners, left over from Pope Julius II's scaled-back tomb, went to Cosimo I de' Medici, who set them in the Buontalenti Grotto in the Boboli Gardens until 1909. Read the inscription on St Matthew's base: it records his 1831 move from the cathedral workshop's courtyard to the art academy next door.
galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: Young Slave · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: St Matthew
Giambologna built this life-size model in 1579-80 with no commission and no story in mind, just to show off three twisting figures. The scholar Vincenzo Borghini gave it a title later. It is unfired clay, and the museum says only a handful of 16th-century models this size survive intact.
Tales of Museums reads the label in front of you aloud in your language, for any label you can photograph. The museum asks you to keep your phone on silent and speak quietly, so bring headphones and mobile data.
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The museum's audio guide (€6) is in Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Japanese for adults, and in five of those for children. It is not offered in Chinese, Korean or Portuguese. Museum staff also run occasional free themed tours in Italian and English, announced on the museum's education page. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit kit (PDF) · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: education
Yes. The museum's rules allow photos for personal use, without flash, tripods or other professional equipment, wherever photos are permitted and as staff direct. Selfie sticks have to be left at the entrance. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visitor rules (Italian, PDF)
Booking isn't compulsory, but the museum strongly recommends it: without a booking the wait to get in can be long. Book through the museum's official online ticket channel or by phone on +39 055 294883, for a €4 fee. The museum says Wednesdays, Thursdays, 1 to 2.30 pm and December to February are quieter. On the free first Sunday of each month you cannot book and simply queue. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: information · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit kit (PDF)
The museum puts the average visit at about an hour and a half, with around 550 works on display. Beyond the David there are Michelangelo's unfinished Prisoners, Giambologna's full-size model for The Rape of the Sabines, paintings by Botticelli and Ghirlandaio, and a museum of musical instruments with a viola and a cello by Stradivari. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit kit (PDF)
Yes. The museum's rules allow personal digital devices in silent mode as long as you don't disturb other visitors, and ask everyone to speak quietly. There is no cloakroom, so only bags up to 40 × 30 × 18 cm are allowed; keep your phone and headphones with you. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visitor rules (Italian, PDF) · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: information
The museum says its quietest days are Wednesdays and Thursdays, its quietest hours 1 pm to 2.30 pm, and its quietest months December to February, holidays aside. Tuesdays, weekends and March to October are the busiest. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 8.15 am to 6.50 pm, with last admission at 6.10 pm, and closed on Mondays. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: introduction kit (PDF) · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit
Yes: entry is free on the first Sunday of every month and on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November. You can't book on those days, so you join the queue at the entrance. Under-18s enter free on any day. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: information · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: introduction kit (PDF)
Yes. All open rooms are wheelchair accessible, with a lift to the first floor and stair lifts in Rooms 1 and 2 there. Disabled visitors and a carer enter free, without booking or queuing, through the priority entrance at Via Ricasoli 60, where free wheelchairs are lent without booking, subject to availability. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: introduction kit (PDF) · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: information
The toilets, with baby-changing facilities, are on the lower ground floor and can be used only at the end of the visit; an accessible toilet is on the ground floor near the lift. Water bottles up to 500 ml are allowed. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: introduction kit (PDF)
Under-18s enter free, and the museum's audio guide has a children's version in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish for €6 from the bookshop. In off-peak periods the museum runs themed family visits and workshops, announced on its education page; baby-changing facilities are in the lower-ground-floor toilets. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit kit (PDF) · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: education
Eat before or after your visit: eating and drinking are not allowed inside the Galleria dell'Accademia. Food and drink in open containers, cans and glass bottles cannot be brought in, and anything else must stay sealed in your bag until the end of the visit, apart from a small closed bottle of water and baby food or bottles. galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: visit (visitor services) · galleriaaccademiafirenze.it: rules for access and visit (Italian, PDF)
Tales of Museums is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to the Galleria dell'Accademia. Translations, narration and the extra facts use AI and can contain mistakes, so for anything important, check the museum's official information and the linked sources. Please follow the museum's photography rules.