I agree with Zerlina that if you don't like Renaissance art, you may not like the Museum San Marco. It contains beautiful work by Fra Angelico in a beautiful setting but if you don't care for his work, it is not the place to go.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marco,_Florence

As I do more reading San Marco is slipping off the list.

Well, thanks for all of the comments.

Uffizi is out and Bargello is in though we may not may advance reservations and go for it when we're in the area.

I don't particularly like religious Renaissance art, but I really enjoyed San Marco. That museum is also about the monastic setting, and seeing Fra Angelico's colorful works in situ.
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/mus...san_marco.html

The Bargello and the Duomo Museum were both fantastic. The Donatello David, Michelangelo Bacchus, Giambologna Mercury, and Ghiberti and Brunellesci Babtistry door competition panels are among the highly memorable pieces in the Bargello collection.

The Duomo Museum has many fantastic pieces including Donatello's Mary Magdaline and St. John, as well as his Cantoria, which is countered on the opposite wall by the very different one by Lucca della Robbia. Then there is the aging Michelangelo's Pieta, not to mention Ghiberti's original door panels, all worth the price of admission.

Then don't forget the many small churches that you can pop into for free and spend a few minutes. Here's one you will almost certainly be a few steps away from during your visit, but might not even notice it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Felicita,_Florence
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiesa_..._%28Firenze%29

But I understand why the Uffizi left you feeling lukewarm, so you should probably skip it this time.

Whatever you decide I highly recommend seeing if you can get your hands on one of the art history lecture series by Bill Kloss. Our library has some, and they are often on Ebay at 70-80% off list price. Plus they are on 70% sale at the Teaching Company itself from time to time.
http://www.teach12.com/storex/professor.aspx?id=296

My wife and I watched his History of European Art and Artists of the Italian Renaissance lectures before our trip and it had a huge impact on our understanding and appreciation of what we were seeing.

Finally, we bring small travel binoculars into museums. Even though we were only 20-30 feet away from, say, Botticelli's Birth of Venus, it's a whole different world looking through the binos.

Well, you can't really go wrong with these decisions, so have fun whatever you decide.

I don't think anyone could forget the Gozzoli wall paintings at the Riccardi Medici museum. It's lovely and small, central, uncrowded when I was there, and the pictures are stunning.

Brunelleschi's Dome and The Stones of Florence are both good background reading for your trip

For another house museum you might consider the Casa Buonarroti--on my "to see" list for Florence
http://www.casabuonarroti.it/english/e-home.htm

I found , in Florence, I suffered from a real case of Stendhal Syndrome. My eyes could just not take in anymore. If you decide to go , go early on in your trip before you become a victim!

Myer - i have no idea how those travellers who spend the apparently statutory 3 days in each of Venice, Florence and Rome remember what they saw where. I do much better if I restrict my art-viewing to one or two museums per visit. for example, on our recent week-long visit to Rome, the only gallery we went to was the Doria Pamphilli. we had a lovely time - there were no queues, [mainly because there were very few people there] we could get up close to everything we wanted to see, we could go back and look at it again, and again, we could sit down any time we wanted to, it was a joy. AND I can remember what i saw and why I liked it! I enjoyed it much more than the Vatican or the uffizi.

I also love popping into any church i might be passing to see what they've got.

do what YOU want to do - and don't try to do too much, is my advice.

Some of us have spent considerably more than the three statutory days in Florence. Venice and Rome, and some of us have an interest in art and art history.

I don't recall any of us saying that such an interest is obligatory. But from what we recall, we make suggestions that may (or may not) suit the OP. Is that reprehensible?

Zerlina, I don't read annhig's remarks as describing the people commenting in in this thread. I think she is referring to the "classic" 3-3-3 split recommended frequently for a "first time" visit to Italy.

It's really interesting to read other people's take on things. I've explained that we're not really museum goers. We were just discussing this and we both agree that if we ever got back to Madrid, the Prado was our favorite.

We have our style but we still try to fit in a few museums when warranted.

This trip is being designed very differently from any other trip we've taken. We will be based in one place a probably visit more places than on any previous trip. Possibly because there will be no packing and unpacking required.

We don't consider house museums (ala Frick in NY which is one of our favorites) to be museums. Essentially we look upon those as a look at how they lived (although this isn't always the case).

On this 10 day trip, my guess is that we'll visit no more than 3 formal museums.

Of course, I have some not so visited places penciled in such as Villa Petraia and Poggio a Caiano.

I'm looking forward to writing my trip report and haven't even gone on the trip yet.

Great info and a big help so far. Thanks.

primeranoche - exactly.

I was in no way casting aspersions upon other posters here, just making a generalised comment about the way in which one can become overloaded with "art", which doubtless reflects more on me than on those like Zerlina, who almost certainly have more knowledge of art than I do.

it's iroinc, really, people who spend no time looking at art in their normal lives, [and this includes me] go to Italy, France or spain, and spend many hours in places like the Uffizi and the Prada, peering at pictures they don't understand and won't remember, often in conditions of some discomfort.

whereas, as this thread reminds us, there are many smaller, more accessible galleries and museums where a few happy hours may be spent by us philistines actually enjoying what we are seeing.

which would leave the uffizi etc, free for those like Zerlina who can actually appreciate it.

A vote for the Baptistry doors. The ones on display at the Baptistry are replicas, but they are some of the crowning achievements of the Renaissance. The Met showed a few of the panels a few years ago. I think they are underrated. Ghiberti's work is truly amazing (he took 10 years).

Bargello is very enjoyable also. You can see the panels on the sacrifice of Isaac submitted by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi to compete for the commission there.

For Michelangelo, there are the "Day" and "Night" (and something else maybe?) sculptures at the Medici Chapel.

21 years to do the doors, apparently:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Baptistery

Also there's an "e" in Baptistery -- I guess that's the default spelling. I'm a little surprised by it. Webster claims the spelling without the "e" as a variant.

From Wikipedia:

Michelangelo referred to these doors as fit to be the "Gates of Paradise" (It. Porte del Paradiso), and they are still invariably referred to by this name. Giorgio Vasari described them a century later as "undeniably perfect in every way and must rank as the finest masterpiece ever created". Ghiberti himself said they were "the most singular work that I have ever made".

Sorry, it was actually 21 years to do one set, then 27 years to the Gates of Paradise. I guess that's what happens when you skim....

This topic raises a basic question, "Why do people visit a museum?"

I would imagine at the top of what is a very long list, and in no particular order:

To see in person what I have long seen in books and elsewhere.
To see what I like.
To learn about what I do not know about.

When we visit a museum we ask,
"Which one piece would you take home?'
"What artist that you knew do you have a greater or lesser appreciation for?"
"Which piece or artist that you have seen before do you now appreciate?"

Aduchamp1,

I guess first on my list would be, do I enjoy going.

I may know nothing about it, but if I'm not going to enjoy it I won't learn anything.

The reason we enjoyed the Prado so much was because it was not only manageable but we picked out three or four artists who each had at least a few paintings in the museum and by the end of the visit we could recognize the work of each.

And Las Meninas is amazing.

The reason we enjoyed the Frick so much was that we could see how each room was designed/built to hold parts of his art collection. It the the house as much as the art.

Sometimes you do something because you think you should. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.

The Prado is one of the world's great museums.

We were fortunate last year to show MoMA to teen-aged daughters of a friend. When we explained some of the history of a work or the artist or highlighted a detail, they became enthralled. It was like they were now part of a secret.

Aduchamp1,

We went to MoMa in 2008 and were glad it was raining outside. It did nothing for us.

I guess different things for different people.

You mentioned the view from Piazzale Michelangelo. If you have never gone to San Miniato al Monte, just above it, I highly recommend seeing that jewel of a church.

The view from Fiesole is also spectacular.