Art lovers in Florence will shortly have yet another attraction on which to feast their eyes when the new museum of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Nuovo Museo dell'Opera del Duomo) opens to the public on the 29th October 2015 with the completion of an ambitious expansion programme involving an investment of 45 million.
Thanks to the acquisition in 1997 of a former theatre adjoining the original museum premises, the museum has more than doubled its exposition space. Visitors can now admire sculptures and works of art that were previously kept in storage, as well as recently restored masterpieces like Donatello's Maddalena, Ghiberti's North Door of the Baptistry and 27 silk panels embroidered in gold designed by Antonio del Pollaiolo.
The old Teatro degli Intrepidi has been converted into a vast and luminous venue, on three floors, containing stunning exhibits like the lifesize reconstruction of the original Santa Maria del Fiore facade (36 metres long x 20 metres in height), designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296. This was later dismantled and replaced by the polychrome version we know today. A separate room has been reserved for Michaelangelo's Bandini Pietà. He intended it to decorate his own tomb but was so dissatisfied with it that he attacked it with a hammer. One of his late sonnets, inscribed on the wall opposite, highlights the tragedy of a man who knows he will shortly come face to face with death.
A long upper gallery is reserved for the forty statues by foremost artists that were intended for the old facade and the 16 statues created by Andrea Pisano, Donatello and collaborators for the Giotto Bell Tower.
The Museum of the Works of the Cathedral (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo) is an institution dating back seven centuries, founded by the Florentine Republic to supervise the construction of the new Cathedral and its Bell Tower. It thus takes its name from the bustling offices and workshop that stood on the spot when Brunelleschi was designing his celebrated dome. The museum contains the most important collection of medieval and renaissance sculpture in the world, with works by over 516 of the most famous Italian artists and architects.
A combined ticket is available that includes a visit to the Museum, the Baptistry, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Brunelleschi Dome and the Crypt of Santa Reparata.
Info: Tel. ++39. 055.2302885 www.ilgrandemuseodelduomo.it