Art Museum sights in Tuscany
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A
Museo Nazionale di San Matteo
This inspiring repository of medieval masterpieces sits in a 13th-century Benedictine convent on the Arno's northern waterfront boulevard, dwarfed either side by a gorgeous palazzo. The gallery's collection of 14th- and 15th-century Pisan sculptures, including pieces by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, Andrea and Nino Pisano, Francesco di Valdambrino, Donatello, Michelozzo and Andrea della Robbia, is notable. But even better is its collection of paintings from the Tuscan school (c 12th to 14th centuries), with works by Berlinghiero, Lippo Memmi, Taddeo Gaddi, Gentile da Fabriano and Ghirlandaio on show. Don't miss Masaccio's St Paul, Fra Angelico's Madonna of Humility and…
reviewed
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B
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
No museum provides a better round-up of Piazza dei Miracoli's trio of architectural masterpieces than this museum inside the cathedral's former chapter house. A repository for works of art once displayed in the cathedral and baptistry, highlights include Giovanni Pisano's ivory carving of the Madonna and Child (1299), made for the cathedral's high altar, and his mid-13th-century Madonna del colloquio, originally from a gate of the duomo. Legendary booty includes various pieces of Islamic art, including the griffin that once topped the cathedral and a 10th-century Moorish hippogriff.
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C
Palazzo Blu
Facing the river is this magnificently restored, 14th-century building that has a striking dusty-blue facade. Inside, its over-the-top 19th-century interior decoration is the perfect backdrop for the Foundation CariPisa's art collection – predominantly Pisan works from the 14th to the 20th century, plus various temporary exhibitions.
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D
Museo Civico
Pistoia's Gothic Palazzo Communale is strung with works by Tuscan artists from the 13th to 20th centuries. Don't miss Bernardino di Antonio Detti's Madonna della Pergola (1498) with its modern treatment of St James, the Madonna and Baby Jesus; spot the mosquito on Jesus' arm.
Nearby, savour the rich portico of Ospedale del Ceppo, with its detailed 16th-century polychrome terracotta frieze by Giovanni della Robbia. Dramatically contrasting with the ancient facade is La Luna nel Pozzo (The Moon in the Well; 1999), a striking iron sculpture smart on the spot in front of the old hospital where a well once stood.
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E
Centro Documentazione e Fondazione Marino Marini
This museum-gallery is devoted to Pistoia's most famous modern son, the eponymous sculptor and painter (1901–80).
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F
Museo Civico Giovanni Fattori
This museum in a pretty park features works by the 19th-century Italian Impressionist Macchiaioli school led by Livorno-born Giovanni Fattori. The group, inspired by the Parisian Barbizon school, flouted stringent academic art conventions and worked directly from nature, emphasising immediacy and freshness through patches, or 'stains' (macchia), of colour.
reviewed