It's tough to list just 5, but I'd say mine are:

Michelangelo's David, the Accademia
Michelangelo's Pieta, St. Peter's
Botticcelli's Birth of Venus, the Uffizi
The Sistene Chapel
St. Peter's Basilica (cheating, I know)

There is a statue in Sorrento of St. Francis of Assisi that I will never forget. St. Francis is wearing a light tunic, instead of heavy robes. He is almost dancing as a bird is taking flight from his fingertips. I don't know the artist, I wish that I did, but whoever it is has captured the freedom and joy of being in step with Spirit.

Ira, Thanks for the "rays of light" explanation.

My favorites (and I haven't seen everything):

Bottecelli's Birth of Venus
Statue of David
Sistine Chapel ceiling
Frescoes in the church at San Gimignano
Mosaics - Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome

All were magnificent

Oh, yes, and the Pieta. I had seen the masterpiece as a teenager, before it was vandalized in the 70s and before it was behind glass. Artists did an excellent job restoring it, considering that Mary's nose was chipped off. But when I saw it last summer, I couldn't help but view Mary's face as a work of restoration.

Still, it is a stunning work.

Those of you who are choosing the Sistine Chapel ceiling: Were you able to see it when there weren't 900 other admirers crammed in there with you? It was magnificent, but the crush of the crowd certainly took away from my experience.

Also, when we were there, we could only view the Pieta in St. Peters from pretty far away, due to work on the dome/ceiling above. Hard to feel like I was really seeing it, given the distance.

Missypie, we were in the Sistene Chapel May 9, at 4:00, and it wasn't crowded at all. I wish I'd remembered to bring binoculars to see the pieces up close.
Also that day, we could walk right up to the Pieta's enclosure without obstruction at St. Peter's.

You chose a good time to travel! Three weeks later you would have had my experience!

I visited Rome in early March a few years back and even at mid-day, there weren't many people at all in the Sistine Chapel. I can imagine it gets quite crowded in-season.

2.The Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence.

Where is this? Santa Maria del Carmine doesn't sound familiar. Must have missed it.


4. The Portinari Tryptich by Hugo Van der Goes (Uffizi), Florence.

Don't remember this either.


Oh and the Sistine Chappel was packed full when I went last November.

Thanks all, I am considering a first trip to Italy between Christmas and early Jan. Any idea how the crowds will be? I figure this might be a good time to view the art, and when we can come back to Italy in warmer weather we can "do" the countryside?

1. Duccio: Maesta, in Siena
2. Piero della Francesca: Resurrection, in Sansepplcro
3. Rapahel: the frescoes, Vatican, Rome
4. Velasquez: portrait of Innocent X, Gal. Doria-Pamphili, Rome
5: ??
By the way, the Veiled Christ is the silliest, campiest piece of fluff imaginable.

miasmadude
Please tell me more about the Veiled Christ.
I have seen it on TV and in guidebooks. It looks fabulous. When did you see it? Why the disappointment?

scrb, the Brancacci Chapel is on the "other" side of the Arno from where most of the tourist-visited sites are. It was a bit of a walk, but extremely worthwhile. The frescoes are vibrant and astoundingly colorful and the fact that they are so well-preserved is amazing.

I'm rally happy to see the Brancacci chapel and the San Gimignano frescos on folks lists. They are two of my favorites.

I love the Berninis in Rome and the Caravaggios, too. I've done a sort of tour of both, and it makes for some great viewing.

But the Piero della Francesco frescos in Arezzo also go on my list. Gone out of my way to revisit them.

The Medici tombs in Florence are also among my favorites.

JandaO, it is, I admit, purely personal.I am reading a book by Edith Templeton about Italian cities, and she comments, a propros od della Robbia, that great art should make us feel uncomfortable, should not be "sweet" or "cute." I agree;

Piero's Ressurrection, in Sansepolcro, is a perfect example. Here, ther newly risen Christ steps out of his tomb, and you can FEEL his strength, almsot see the flexing of the muscles in his foot on the tomb's edge. The Veiled Christ is nothing like that. It is no more than a very cunning piece of marble-carving; a dead cat under the carved veil would have just as much meaning.

Oscar Wilde said you have to have a heart of stone to read the death of Little Nell without laughing. I feel the same, in spades, for the Veiled Christ.

My favorite is Raphael's "The School of Athens" in the Vatican. It just speaks to me like no ther work I have seen. Of course David is phenomenal.

Baldworth

Apollo and Daphne, Bernini
David
Calling of St. Matthew, Carravaggio

Marcello Mastroianni.... http://www.thecityreview.com/dolce2.gif

Oh, olive oil, you just made my day!

Caravaggio's calling of Matthew (in Rome)
David
Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel in Padua
Madonna and Child by Raphael in Pitti Palace
Don't know exact name, but the veronese depiction of Last Supper in Accademia in Venice ( dinner at the house of Levi)