Casa Buonarroti
The Florence palazzo owned by Michelangelo (1475-1564) and converted to a museum by his descendants.
Similar studio museums...
- Casa Natale di Raffaello, Italy - the childhood home of Michelangelo's younger contemporary and rival, Raphael (1483-1520)
- Dürer House, Germany - the Nuremberg home of Michelangelo's German contemporary, the painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
Feature List
- Guided Tours
- Education program for children
- Library
Michelangelo purchased this modest palazzo on the Via Ghibellina in 1508, near his childhood home in the neighbourhood of Santa Croce. However, he was never able to settle here, as this was the same year he began work on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1508-1512). At his death in 1564, he bequeathed it to his nephew Lionardo Buonarroti, and the house stayed in the family until Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, the artist's great-nephew, converted it to a museum. Here he displayed his own art collection, including paintings, sculptures and ceramics, creating a series of elaborate rooms displayed across two floors.
The highlights of the collection today remain the early marble friezes Michelangelo created in Florence, the Madonna of the Steps (c.1491) and the Battle of the Centaurs (c.1492), and a rich collection of archives and drawings, many of which are displayed on a rotating basis. The Casa Buonarrotti also curates a rolling programme of temporary exhibitions.
