The birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence has artistic and architectural masterpieces at nearly every turn. Some, such as Michelangelo’s Renaissance statue of David in the Galleria dell'Accademia, are so famous they hardly need introductions. Others, such as Domenico del Ghirlandaio’s frescoes in the Sassetti Chapel, are hidden gems in Florence's Renaissance art and architecture scene.
If you're an art lover looking to do a deep dive into Florence's oil paintings, sculptures by Renaissance artists, and some of the city's best buildings from the 15th century, we've put together a little Florence art and architecture tour for you. To start, behold David in his glory—it is undoubtedly the must-see work of Renaissance art in Florence. But don’t miss these other masterpieces in the city, from lesser-known Renaissance artworks in Florence to skyline-defining structures, that are also well worth your time.
Painted in the 1480s, Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus shows the newly-born (and fully-grown) Roman goddess Venus emerging from the sea. Covering herself in forced modesty, she’s carried by seafoam and Zephyr-blown winds towards the island of Cythera on a seashell.
One of the most famous Renaissance-era works of art, it pairs with the artist's lesser-known Primavera, also in the Ufizzi. While you’re there, swing by Titian’s Venus of Urbino, too, which contrasts Botticelli’s modesty with eroticism.
In the early 15th century, Filippo Brunelleschi laid out designs to build the dome of Florence’s cathedral without traditional supporting structures, a feat of engineering not accomplished since antiquity. He accomplished this by building two domes, one inside the other. The masonry dome was the largest in the world when it was completed in 1436 and over 500 years later still holds the title today of the largest brick-and-mortar dome. His vision “kicked off” the architectural Renaissance, and inspired cathedral domes around the world, from Milan to the US Capitol.
Insider tip: Don't miss the dome’s frescoes which depict The Last Judgement. And be sure to climb a narrow passageway to the lantern (the small tower atop the dome) for a bird's-eye view of the Piazza del Duomo and a panoramic view of the city beyond.
The Story of Saint Francis of Assisi by Domenico Ghirlandaio extends over three walls of the Sassetti Chapel. One of the city’s most famous Renaissance painters, Ghirlandaio transposed traditional story elements from Francis’ life with Florentine settings and people in six different scenes. The series of 15th-century frescoes is highly regarded for its realism, which is unmatched in works by Ghirlandaio's contemporaries.
In the second scene, called The Confirmation of the Rule, the Pope receives Saint Francis in Florence instead of Rome, with Lorenzo de’ Medici and his family in attendance. (Keep in mind that Lorenzo was born more than 200 years after the saint’s death.)
Some say that the Renaissance began when merchants from the city of Florence commissioned Lorenzo Ghiberti to design new bronze doors for the local baptistery in 1425. Ghiberti labored for nearly 30 years, adorning the doors, now known as The Gates of Paradise, with 10 scenes from the Old Testament in gold-leaf reliefs, demonstrating a new mastery of linear perspective.
The original doors can be seen in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo while replicas adorn the entrance to the baptistery across the street from the Florence Duomo.
David gets all the glory, but Michelangelo's 16th-century sculptures in the Medici Chapels are worth a visit for art lovers. His figures, the personifications of Dawn, Day, Dusk, and Night, lay in sensuous poses atop burial tombs designed for the Medici family.
Did you know?: In 1530, during a power conflict between the Florentines and the ruling Medicis, Michelangelo hid in a secret room underneath the chapel and sketched graffiti to pass the time until tensions cooled. The secret room with priceless drawings is sometimes open to the public.
Paolo Uccello’s The Battle of San Romano is most likely one of three 15th-century paintings (called a “triptych”) and depicts the events of a Tuscan turf war fought between Florence and Siena fought over control of the port of Lucca, among other things.
What has become widely accepted as the center panel, called Niccolò Mauruzi da Tolentino unseats Bernardino della Carda, Uccello painted the battle in a dreamy perspective and currently sits in the Uffizi Gallery. (The first and third paintings in the series are located in London and Paris.)
While the medieval Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio) is Florence’s most famous, the Renaissance-built Ponte Santa Trinita—with its three oval-shaped arches over the Arno River—is the most graceful.
During World War II, German troops destroyed the original stone bridge, which had already replaced a 5-arched wooden version from the 13th century. During the reconstruction of war-damaged Italy, the Renaissance-era stone bridge was rebuilt in 1958 using archival plans and stones recovered from the riverbed.
Michelangelo designed, what some call the revolutionary, Laurentian Medici Library in the 15th century. It holds perhaps the most important collection of rare books in Italy, collected by Cosimo (the Elder) and Lorenzo (the Magnificent) Medici, and includes manuscripts by Boccaccio, Dante, and Virgil.
Located inside the Basilica of San Lorenzo (Basilica di San Lorenzo), the library features late-Renaissance architecture. Here you’ll see an extraordinary and fantastical staircase that mixes disparate architectural styles that seem to magically work together. While most of the building is open to the public, a visit to the reading room (accessible via Michelangelo’s high-Renaissance-designed stairs)—a light-filled sight to behold—requires reservations.