sandi_travelnut

BTW, here's an image of one of the beautiful paintings I loved. I took it in 2000 when you could actually take pictures inside.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v1...dih/Accademia/

tledford

Underhill, it was there last week, I saw it too.
Out of curiosity I looked it up and there is a Michelangelo Pieta in the Duomo museum as well. I didn't go there.

JoanneH

David and I have to second this comment
" antique instruments and thought that was a lovely exhibit and very interesting"
Your kids eyes will glaze over if you do the whole thing - just my thoughts

lynclarke

Sandi- I looked at your picture of the Cross. Do you have other pictures that you can share especially if we can not take photos any more? Lynclarke PS_ I just made reservations. It took 3 minutes and was a snap.

sandi_travelnut

Unfortunately not on line. That was the pre-digital camera days and I didn't scan anymore in from the Accademia. I do have a couple I took of David.

Underhill

The pieta that so moved us was extremely powerful; you could feel the weight of Jesus' body as the disciples struggled to remove it from the cross. We've always wondered what the finished work would have been like.

LCBoniti

Underhill -
I so agree with you about the "unfinished" Pieta at the Accademia. Our tour guide pointed out that it is the only one Michelangelo did where the focus was on Jesus. In all the rest, the focus is on the sadness of the mourners. The face of Jesus reflects deep love - very moving. Plus, the difference in the dead body of Christ and the living, vibrant body of David, (clearly visible in the next room), really showed the mastery of Michelangelo. Absolutely fantastic!

BTW, the Pieta in the museum of the Duomo is the one where Michelangelo used himself as a model for Nicodemus. It is also moving, but in a much different way. It was originally done by him for his tomb, but was not used there after all - I forget why.

Missypie, IMO there is much more to the Accademia, but it depends on the attention span of your children. However, even if you see it all, it is a small museum and you will not spend much time there. But, don't miss it!

Linda

hypatia

She asked a specific question...the answer IMO is a ACC is must see but not an all day thing,that's why there is a couple of paragraphs..If you have children you will tell them about where the David was to be displayed and why the perspective is the way it is and why they think this sculpture is considered a masterpiece etc.
you will show them the prisioners and ask them why they think these pieces are called that and have them describe what they think the tools looked like that were used to make the marks...In other words dont just breeze by and dont read the paragraphs...that is the purpose of art...make them think

Also there was a room of studies which were used to show how technially the points were used create scupltures..
without explanations this part is meaningless so read up, explain, ask questions..Its the perfect museum for kids.

Now I personally would not take small children to the uffizi as it has a huge amount of art that you should have an appreciation for to get the best out of it...otherwise they will come away saying that museum is full of marys and baby jesus paintings...It was way to big for me for one day..

oobylicious

I third the comment about the musical instrument exhibit. I probably spent about 2 hours there, having the time of my life. The wonder of it was that there were maybe 2 other people in this exhibit with me--everyone else was crowded around the David. It was nice not having to fight the crowd to really enjoy an exhibit.

However, as mentioned earlier, the David itself is more than worth the line. I'm not ashamed to admit it made me cry; it was gorgeous.

dina4

missypie,

We took our kids to Florence (and a few other big European cities on the same trip), and there was so much to do and see, that I didn't want them to have museum overload.

I do strongly suggest you make a reservation for the accademia and pop in to see David. He is truly spectacular, and even your kids' jaws will drop I'm sure. It would be a shame to miss it.

We also made a reservation in the Uffizi and chose just a few rooms to focus on.

Have a great trip!
Dina