Florence, Renaissance period

Throughout Florence, history lovers have the chance to discover myriad treasures linked to the Medici Dynasty. Thanks to a visit of the monumental quarters, you’ll be able to see several works of art spotlighting the politics of Cosimo I de’ Medici. A multimedia project in the Theater of the Renaissance Civilization will help children learn more about the military and political situation that characterized Europe and Italy in 1537, the year the young Cosimo was elected Duke of Florence.

Those wishing to learn more about Filippo Brunelleschi and the invention of Renaissance architecture won’t want to miss an exciting exhibition at MUDI Museum of the Innocents. Children can learn more about the famed architect’s life in fifteenth century Florence and graphically reconstruct the museum courtyard’s layout or build a cubic arch topped by a cross vault. Additionally, by viewing great works by Luca and Andrea della Robbia, Sandro Botticelli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Piero di Cosimo, children can learn more about the Hospital of the Innocents and the orphans who lived there.

At MNAF Alinari National Photography Museum, visitors will be able to visit a darkroom that’s as big as the Santa Maria Novella Cathedral and learn about old-time darkrooms, photographic laboratories and optic devices used to create photography. Thanks to the help of Renaissance optical devices, recreated by modern artist Georg Vith, you can observe Santa Maria Novella’s façade (transformed into a huge darkroom) in order to see how the sun moves across the floor.

At Fiesole’s Bandini Museum, visitors won’t want to miss Angelo Maria Bandini’s noteworthy art collection, inherited by the bishop in charge of the city’s cathedral in 1803. Here, you will find Tuscan paintings and sculptures from the XIII, XIV and XV centuries. Following instructions that Bandini gave at the moment of his death, the Museum offer visitors the chance to rediscover the development of Tuscan art from the 13th century to the end of the 15th century.