Accademia of Florence
The Academy of Fine Arts of Florence was founded in 1563 thanks to Cosimo I de’ Medici, who also was the force behind the construction of the Uffizi Gallery, together with artist and architect Giorgio Vasari. Today it is the permanent home of one of the best-known art galleries in the world, the Academy Gallery.The very first pieces of this collection are believed to be the two great chalk replicas of the Giambologna statues that today can be found in the city’s Palazzo Vecchio, while today the Academy Gallery is most commonly known as being home to Michelangelo’s greatly celebrated ‘David’.Over the years the collection has grown and expanded exponentially and in its long history, the gallery changed and evolved with the times.
