Master Craftsman shops and Michelangelo experience

Palazzo Pitti was the residence of the Medici family, then of the Habsburg-Lorraine family and finally of the Savoy family. It can be considered an actual royal palace. It is located on the slopes of the Boboli hill, and it still retains the name of the man who had it built in the mid-fifteenth century, Luca Pitti. It was Eleanor of Toledo, wife of the first Grand Duke, Cosimo I of the Medicis, who transformed it into a sumptuous residence with an adjoining garden; both were expanded over the centuries to make it what we see today. Palazzo Pitti is now home to 4 different museums which are the Palatine Gallery and Imperial and Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art, the Museum of Costume and Fashion and the Treasury of the Grand Dukes. The Palatine Gallery, together with the Imperial and Royal Apartments, occupies the first floor of the Pitti Palace. It holds the rich picture gallery of the Medici family, and it was inaugurated by the Lorraine family between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century with around 500 works selected from the Medici collection. It is an extraordinary assortment of pieces and it certainly displays some of the most important works by Raphael, but also masterpieces by Titian, Tintoretto, Caravaggio and Rubens. Absolutely worth seeing are Woman with a Veil by Raphael, Saint Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi and Judith with the Head of Holofernes by Cristofano Allori. The Gallery of Modern Art includes works of modern art, paintings and sculptures from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the 1930s that come from the Grand Ducal collections and private donations such as that by Diego Martelli. The Macchiaioli section is one of the most popular, with paintings by Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega and Telemaco Signorini, as well as works by Hayez and Canova. The Treasury of the Grand Dukes was once known as the Silverworks museum, and retains a very rich collection of vases and furnishings in precious stones and metals. The museum is located on the ground and mezzanine floors of the palace, in what were once the summer apartments of the Medici family. The rooms are entirely decorated with various frescoed scenes designed to celebrate the marriage between Ferdinando II of the Medici house and Vittoria della Rovere in 1637. Do not miss the amazing collection of jewels created between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries and the section dedicated to contemporary jewelry . The Museum of Costume and Fashion, formerly known as the Costume Gallery, is located in the Palazzina della Meridiana and is the first Italian state museum dedicated to fashion. The collection displays fashion clothes and accessories from the 18th century to the present day, including undergarments. Extremely interesting are the funeral clothes of Cosimo I of the Medicis, Eleanor of Toledo and their son Garzia dating back to the sixteenth century.

The Oltrarno district is the one located on the left bank of the Arno river opposite to the historical center, it means "over the Arno", and it covers that part of the city that is still less known. When we say Oltrarno we mean the Florentine neighborhoods of San Niccolò, Santo Spirito and San Frediano which are still much loved, very authentic and densely populated. The narrow streets of these neighborhoods are full of artisan workshops, historic shops, small restaurants and wine shops, as well as Street Art. In addition, the Oltrarno is the district where Piazzale Michelangelo and the Basilica of San Miniato are located, dominating over the center of the city. Passing over one of the famous bridges, like the Ponte Vecchio, you can access the Oltrarno from the Duomo side and reach the superb Medici residence of Palazzo Pitti, which houses several museums including the wonderful Palatine Gallery. It is also possible to visit the Church of Santo Spirito, which preserves Michelangelo's Crucifix; the Brancacci Chapel with the cycle of frescoes by Masaccio, Masolino and Filippino Lippi; and the Church of Cestello. The Florentine Oltrarno is also very popular for its restaurants, taverns and nightclubs where you can taste Florentine specialties such as lampredotto or tripe, and spend your evenings with friends. The Oltrarno is also the neighborhood where our Street Art Tour of Florence begins, as there are many works by many famous Street Artists who have their galleries here.

The Basilica of Santo Spirito overlooks the square bearing the same name and is one of the beating hearts of the Oltrarno district. Characterized by an unadorned facade, but without doubt particular, the Basilica of Santo Spirito was built on the remains of an Augustinian convent following a project by Filippo Brunelleschi, who at the time was also engaged in the construction of the dome of the Cathedral and the remodeling of the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The great architect, however, died while the works were still in progress and the church was finished by his followers, who eventually changed part of the initial project. The interior is richly decorated with different works of art and has 38 side altars, for the same number of chapels, plus the large main altar surmounted by an imposing seventeenth-century canopy, dominated by a perforated dome by Salvi d'Andrea. Among the works of art preserved in the Basilica of Santo Spirito there is the splendid Pala Nerli made at the end of the fifteenth century by Filippino Lippi. This painting depicts a Madonna and Child and a young Saint John Giovannino, Martino and Caterina d'Alessandria, with a particular background view of the San Frediano area of ​​the time. The Basilica of Santo Spirito also preserves a stunning work by a very young Michelangelo, the poignant wooden Crucifix created around the year 1493. The great artist was hosted in Santo Spirito convent when he was 17 years old and had the privilege here to study human anatomy, analyzing corpses from the convent hospital. Michelangelo then carved this crucifix in gratitude to the prior Niccolò di Lapo Bichiellini, who placed it over the main altar. Today the wooden crucifix by Michelangelo is exhibited in the sacristy of the Basilica of Santo Spirito.