Florence will host the world’s most significant Michelangelo museum, dedicated to the artist, thanks to a collaboration between the Accademia Gallery and the Bargello Museums.
The announcement was made on Monday by Massimo Osanna, the Director General for Museums at the Ministry of Culture, during the launch of the project The Eternal Contemporary: Michelangelo 1475-2025.
The Michelangelo museum initiative is being launched to mark the 550th anniversary of the Renaissance artist’s birth. Osanna emphasised that the key feature of this celebration is the partnership between the Accademia and the Bargello. He explained that the two museums will merge to offer visitors a unique experience, beginning at the Accademia, then continuing to the Medici Chapels and the Bargello, with a special focus on the “secret room” of Michelangelo. This small, hidden space beneath the Medici Chapels in Florence is believed to have been Michelangelo’s temporary refuge in 1530 and was only opened to the public last year.
The room was discovered in 1975 after the then-director of the Medici Chapels Museum instructed a restorer to conduct cleaning tests in a narrow corridor beneath the apse.
Osanna also highlighted that museums should become more “dynamic,” offering both locals and tourists “cultural programs of great depth.” He stressed that these programs should not only promote knowledge but also deliver “enjoyment and emotion,” as art must continue to inspire and thrill the public.
