A TMNT turtle tour of Florence
Exploring the artwork of Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael
So recently I was in Florence, i.e. the birthplace of gelato and the Renaissance and let me tell you it was so unbelievably incredible I’m already wanting to go back. Now if you’re looking for gelato recommendations I can certainly give you those (my fave place was La Strega near the Duomo), however I don’t want to focus on gelato today. Today I want to focus on the Renaissance, more specifically the artists of the Renaissance and even more specifically the artists that inspired the names of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo di Vinci and Raphael. Florence is such a hub of absolutely incredible, awe-inspiring art and there are so many places to see it. Honestly everywhere you turn there is something beautiful to see! However that can be quite overwhelming at times, especially if you don’t have a lot of time but want to fit in as much as you can.
Now onto the turtle aspect of this post. It all started in the Uffizi Gallery when I was in the Leonardo di Vinci room. Earlier that day I had seen some sculptures by Michelangelo and I was just about to go and look at the Raphael paintings and I turned around, without thinking, and said to my mother, ‘I’ve collected 3 out of 4 turtles’ because seeing their names everywhere just made me think of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This in itself is quite bizarre because a) normally I would think of the artists and not the turtles and b) to this day I don’t actually think I have ever seen a single minute of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and if I have it wasn’t by choice. But those names together come hand in hand with the turtles and by the end of the trip I had collected all four. But, thinking about it, the places in which I saw all their creations were some of the most beautifully interesting places I have ever been. So I thought I would create a little tour of places to go if you want to see all of these infamous artists and soak up a little bit of history, but if you’re with someone who isn’t the most interested in history and art, but is interested in 80s/90s cartoons, here’s a random middle ground for you.
1. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) - Statue of David: Galleria dell’Accadamia
I have included Michelangelo first because arguably this is one of the most famous pieces of art in the whole of Florence, but also because you should visit the galleria as early in the day as you can if you want the best views. We went right at opening and by half eight in the morning I was standing in an almost empty gallery with a perfect view of the statue. This marble statue created between 1501-1504 was originally once situated outside Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria (another stop on our tour) but was later moved to the Galleria dell’Accadamia in 1873 for conservation and to protect it from the elements (a replica statue now stands in it’s original place). I couldn’t get over the height of this, like omg it is huge and by huge I mean 517cm tall (around 17ft). For some reason I didn’t expect it to be that tall, but the photos really don’t convey the pure scale of this sculpture. It’s also such a dramatic moment when you turn the corner into the hallway to see it just towering over everyone at the end of the room. If you want to find out more about the pieces of art you can see in Galleria dell’Accadamia and the statue of David can find the website to the gallery here.
2. Leonardo di Vinci (1452-1519) - Adoration of the Magi: La Gallerie degli Uffizi
If you are incredibly short on time, one trip to the Uffizi and you’ll be able to see all of the above artists and a million more. This place is honestly quite overwhelming with the sheer scale of the place. The amount of art in here is unreal let alone the amount of famous art. But I am going to focus on one particular room in the gallery for this section and that is room A35, the Leonardo Di Vinci room. There are a few of his artworks in here but the Adoration of the Magi is definitely the most interesting in my opinion. Commissioned by the Augustinian monks in around 1481 this piece by Di Vinci was never finished. This to me is more fascinating than any completed artwork because you can see how he worked and the process he went through when creating his paintings. Just like Galleria dell’Accadamia, the Uffizi is a very busy place so I would recommend going early. I went at about 3pm and it was packed full of people (this is during off-season too, I don’t even want to imagine how busy it is in peak season!) but it is 1000000% worth the visit (bring comfy shoes though as it’s a lot of walking and stairs). As before you can find out more about the gallery and it’s contents from the gallery website here.
3. Donatello di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (1386-1466) - Judith and Holofernes: Palazzo Vecchio
Now situated in the Hall of Lilies in Palazzo Vecchio, this bronze sculpture of Judith and Holofernes created by Donatello between the years of 1457 and 1464 once stood outside the palazzo alongside Michelangelo’s David. Palazzo Vecchio is Florence’s town hall and has been a political hub for hundreds of years. There are two different areas to visit here, the first is the museum where you can see the rooms that the Medici family lived in and the tower where you can look out over the city. However I can’t tell you much about the tower as heights are totally not my thing so I didn’t even bother with tickets for that part! The museum though was so good and some of the artworks you can see there is incredible. You can find Donatello’s statue in the hall of lilies which is in the section of the Palazzo known as the rooms of the Priors. To find out more about the museum visit the culture section of the City of Florence website (the website is all in Italian but your web browser may be able to translate it).
4. Raffaello (Raphael) Santi (1483-1520) - Madonna of the Chair: Palazzo Pitti
The final stop on our tour takes us to Palazzo Pitti, an absolutely ginormous museum in the neighbourhood of Oltrarno (translating to the other side of the arno i.e. over the river). The scale of this place is on another level and again there are different museums you can visit within the grounds of the Palace such as the Gallery of Modern Art, the Museum of Fashion and Costume (an absolute must see in my opinion!), the Palatine Gallery and the extensive Boboli gardens just to name a few! You could honesty probably spend an entire day here. But to find our last artist we need to head to the Palatine Gallery, specifically the Room of Saturn which holds the Medici family’s art collection. Just like in the Uffizi you can find work from a whole range of famous renaissance artists here, including the oil painting Madonna della seggiola (Madonna of the chair) by Raphael from 1512. This painting is incredible but the frame it sits in is the most beautifully ornate gilded frame and is a work of art in itself. And one more time, to find out more you can visit the website here.
So we have now come to the end of our art tour of Florence. These are all absolutely beautiful places to visit and I would definitely recommend stopping by any of these places if you find yourself in Florence. I could go more into depth for each place but honestly we could be here for days if I did that so I will spare you all from my major rambling for another time. But for now, thank you muchly for reading and I’ll see you all in a fortnight for more random rambling about something most likely history related.
M x
My wife and I have visited various regions of Italy several times, great treasures in our lives. We love Florence, and my wife has a new career as an art historian. So, she continues to go and research and enjoy. Yes, beauty is at every turn there. History, too. So sad to see the rightwing turn of Italy's government.