This year marks the 550th anniversary since the birth of Michelangelo Buonarroti, and the Galleria dell’Accademia is organizing a series of events commemorating the occasion, mostly taking place on Mondays, when the museum is traditionally closed to the public. The Galleria is an institution with particular ties to the Renaissance artist, ties which began with the acquisition of the David in 1873, and later of The Prisoners, Saint Matthew and the Palestrina Pietà.
The project, named “L’eterno contemporaneo” (The Eternal Contemporary), seeks to highlight Michelangelo’s ongoing relevance, starting this Thursday March 6 with a special evening opening of the museum, with guided tours between 7 and 9pm. The event is reserved for members of the Associazione degli Amici della Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze (Friends of David), but it is possible to sign up on their website or on the evening.
The calendar continues on March 10 with a talk by Cristina Acidini titled Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna, a Friendship in the Name of Art. The talk will explore the complex relationship between the artist and the marquise of Pescara.
On April 7 a talk by Francesco Caglioti is to be held on The David: Prehistory and Protohistory, about the historical genesis of the celebrated statue.
On May 12, it will be the turn of Marco Pierini and his talk The Presence of Michelangelo in Art and Contemporary Culture, aimed at analyzing the artists’s vast influence in the visual language of the 20th century.
On June 9 Tommaso Montanari and actor Francesco Gori will read passages from Michelangelo’s letters, as well as selected passages from the artist’s biographies by Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi, exploring the ambitious realisation of Pope Julius II’s tomb in the context of Rome in the early sixteenth century. The reading is called “The world has nothing to equal it”. The Prisoners and the Troubled Undertaking of Julius II’s Tomb.
On a yet unspecified date in the fall, famed musical artist Vinicio Caposella will play under the shadow of David and The Prisoners accompanied by an orchestra featuring violinist Mario Brunello, a concert entitled Flee, Lovers, Love – Rhymes and Lamentations for Michelangelo.
Ph. by Guido Cozzi
Another musical appointment will close out the calendar on December 15 organised in collaboration with the Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini di Firenze. The all-female Trio Thesan, composed of Antonella Ciccozzi on the harp, Giuseppina Ledda on the flute and Francesca Piccioni on the viola will play music from Claude Debussy, Sofia Gubaidulina and Vivaldi’s La Follia, accompanied by extracts from Michelangelo’s poems.
“This project ensures that our museums are increasingly dynamic places—open spaces for meeting, discussion, and reflection, as museums should be” says Massimo Osanna, Director of Museums under the Ministry of Culture. “They can no longer be conceived as places where school groups are forcibly taken on mandatory visits without sparking any interest. Instead, museums should be places not only to visit but to return to and engage with regularly.”
There will also be a series of activities aimed at making the Galleria accessible to those with disabilities. On March 12 and 13 the visually impaired will be able to touch Saint Matthew and some of The Prisoners with the use of special gloves, with further dates to be announced in the fall. There will also be a series of guided visits in sign language for those suffering from hearing impairments.
For more details on the program visit the Galleria dell’Accademia website.
