This week’s theme in Florence is discovery. The annual FAI Spring Days (Giornate FAI di Primavera) allows visitors to experience hidden landmarks in Italy like never before in a single weekend, March 23 – 24. Nearly all are private properties and offer entrance to the public only once a year. FAI’s Spring Days (Giornate di Primavera) are blooming in time for the spring equinox on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday 24. For this [...]
Until March 24, 2019: BANKSY: THIS IS NOT A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY. Palazzo Medici Riccardi. Open 9 am – 7 pm. Closed Wednesday. Admission: €10, reduced €6. Twenty prints of the artist’s best and most iconic pieces of street art are currently displayed in a Renaissance palace. Banksy is an anonymous artist and political activist from Bristol. His pieces generally include a satirical twist on the modern-day issues in politics and those facing society as a [...]
March 15 – 17: FirenzeBIO organic fair and market. Fortezza da Basso. Open 10 am – 7 pm. Free admission. Organic and biodynamic products are showcased along with workshops, competitions, and other activities at FirenzeBIO to satisfy consumers in search of healthy and tasty food. Returning to Florence for the second time, the organizers work to educate the public on environmental awareness, and also provide opportunities for businesses to partner in “going green.” [...]
Until April 19: LIVING FORMS: DRAWING AND MEMORY. Dutch University Institute for Art History (NIKI), viale Torricelli 5, Florence. Open Monday – Friday, 9 am – 5:30 pm. Buses 11, 12 or 13. Free admission. Effervescence, movement, and evolution are some of the words which come to mind when viewing Living Forms, a collection currently showing at the NIKI. Created by Signe Kongsgaard Mogensen, the exhibition silently reveals truths about time, language, and memory. [...]
Free Museum Sunday is coming to an end in Florence; it is being replaced with what may be the most convoluted visiting schedule in recent history instead. Due to several new decrees by the Ministry of Arts and Culture, the tradition of free first Sundays at museums (Domenica al Museo, Sunday at the Museum), established by the Renzi government in 2014, will be replaced with admission-free dates chosen jointly by museums and the [...]
Saturday, March 9 – Monday, March 11: TASTE. Stazione Leopolda, Viale Fratelli Rosselli, 5. Open to the general public Sat. & Sun. 2:30 – 7:30 pm, Mon. 9:30 am – 4:30 pm. Admission: €20; children under 10 free. Pitti Taste will be returning with five sections entitled: Taste Tour, Tools, Shop, Ring and Fuori di Taste. One won’t be able to resist the aroma of its newer exhibits or traditional showcase of high quality food and [...]
FREE MUSEUM SUNDAY (DOMENICA METROPOLITANA). No admission will be charged at Florence’s state-run museums. March 3, 2019 marks the last Free Museum Sunday until the fall. So, take the opportunity to visit, for free: the Uffizi Gallery (8:15 am – 6:50 pm); the Palatine Gallery (8 am – 6:50 pm), the Modern Art Gallery (8 am – 6:50 pm), the Fashion and Costume Gallery (8:15 am – 6:50 pm) in the Pitti Palace; [...]
Although 500 years ago Leonardo da Vinci died in Chateau Clos Luce in Amboise, France where King Francis I offered him a country manor and the title of “Painter, Architect and Engineer to the King,” 2019 celebrates the Tuscan roots of Renaissance genius with a multitude of events. Thanks to his unsurpassed use of chiaroscuro (light and shadow) and his uncanny ability to portray the soul of his sitter on canvas, Da Vinci (1452 – [...]
The Vasari Corridor, which has been closed since 2016, has just had renovation plans approved and will reopen in 2021. The Vasari Corridor has been traditionally home to one of the largest collections of self-portraits by famous artists from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Built in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari for Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici, it was designed to link Palazzo Vecchio to the Pitti Palace. It begins in the Uffizi [...]
Feb. 21 – 24: DANZAINFIERA. Fortezza da Basso. Open Thursday 3 – 8 pm; Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9 am – 8 pm. Admission: 1 day €15, 4 days €40; free for children under 8; €10 for 8 – 10 year olds. Danzainfiera once again returns to Florence this year, better than ever. Come and experience four days packed with opportunities for dancers and non-dancers alike: instruction, contests, exhibitions, fashion shows, auditions, showcases and guest speakers. [...]