Florence was the city that witnessed the great revival of learning and culture in 14th to 16th centuries. The city was epicenter of the great surge in artistic, literary, and scientific explorations.

The precious Gem of the Italian Renaissance, Florence is often considered as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. The city was ruled by Medici family during Renaissance age, which brought up the great artists and intellectuals like Boccaccio, Botticelli, Dante, Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Niccolò Machiavelli etc. flourished in the city.

It's a saying that "of the 1,000 most important European artists of the second millennium, 350 lived or worked in Florence." Modern city of Florence is highly esteemed due to the great works of its great men.

Florence is among the greatest cities of Europe famous for art, learning, and culture. It's a great cultural hub of Italy. Famous for its art and architecture, the city of Florence is a perfect pleasing place for aesthetic cognoscenti. Florence is home to the finest Museums and Galleries that exhibit the great works of great artists. The great Museums and Galleries of the cities are listed below.

The Uffizi Gallery: The Uffizi offers masterpieces of Italian and foreign artists from the 13th to the 18th century, such as Cimabue, Giotto, Masaccio, Beato Angelico, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Piero della Francesca, Raphael, Caravaggio, along with Rubens, Rembrandt, Dürer, Goya and many others.

The National Museum of the Bargello (Il Bargello): The museum is set up in a beautiful old historic building that offers fine sculptures, courtyard and interiors. The museum offers some of the masterpieces of Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Cellini, Giambologna and Donatello along with priceless ivories, enamels, jewels, tapestries and weapons.

The Academy Gallery (Casa Buonarroti Museum): Based in Michelangelo's (1465-1564) family home, the museum focuses on the early works of the artist and houses famous sculptures by Michelangelo.

The Museum of San Marco: one of the finest architecture and interiors of the Renaissance, the museum contains the works of Fra' Angelico.

The Museum Of The Cathedral (Museo dell'Opera del Duomo): The Museum contains the artworks from the Gothic Cathedral, the Baptisty and the Tower of Giotto (campanile). Some of famous works in the museum include Michelangelo's "Pietà", Donatello's "Mary Magdalen", Arnolfo di Cambio's "Boniface VIII," and Luca della Robbia's "Cantoria".

The Museum Of The History Of The Science: The museum offers a great collection of a myriad of scientific instruments.

The other museums open to the public in Florence include Gallery Of The Hospital Of The Innocents, Palatine Gallery, The Pitti Palace and Monumental Apartments, Cappelle Medicee, Dante's House, Cenacolo di Sant'Apollonia, Specula Museum, National Archeological Museum, Orsammichele Museum, Della Ragione Modern Art Collection, Primo Conti Museum, Roman Amphitheatre and Archeological Museum, Doccia Porcelain Museum, Leonardo da Vinci Museum, and Luigi Pecci Museum of Contemporany Art.

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Orson Johnson writes for Holiday Velvet, a website providing
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