Modern art isn't what draws most people to the capital of the Renaissance, but the Pitti's collection includes some important works by the 19th-century Tuscan school of art known as the Macchiaioli, who painted a kind of Tuscan Impressionism, concerned with the macchie (marks of color on the canvas and the play of light on the eye).
Most of the scenes are of the countryside or peasants working, along with the requisite lot of portraits. Some of the movement's greatest talents are here, including Silvestro Lega, Telemaco Signorini, and Giovanni Fattori, the real genius of the group. Don't miss Fattori's two white oxen pulling a cart in The Tuscan Maremma ★.
It's all a bit fragmented, since the galleries follow two searate organizational rules—they are kind of in chronological/school order, but this is interrupted by individual collections donated to the gallery over the years that have been largely left intact to fill a room or two. As such, the story of Italain art in the 19th and early 20th centuries keeps getting jumbled.
In amongst the macchiaoli—and some later, early 20C works clearly influenced by Cézanne, Fauvism, and other post-Impressionist artists and schools—are also plenty of Neoclassical and Romantic works from the 19th century, including Francesco Hayez's The Two Foscari and Samson and the Lion, and Anotonio Ciseri's Ecce Homo, looking like a movie still from a Hollywood swords-and-sandals epic.
Be on the lookout for Neoclassical sculptures by hometown talent Giovanni Dupré, as well as some busts by the famed Antonio Cavnoa, including one of a young Napoléon.
Once you arrive in Ammanati's Courtyard of the Pitti Palace, you can either (a) leave; or (b) use your extended ticket to visit the rest of the Pitti complex.
You can start by taking a peek into the Treasury Museum (then move on to the Costume Museum), or you can skip those lesser, specailized collections and go straight into the Boboli Gardens.
» On to the Museo degli Argenti
» On to the Galleria del Costume
Piazza Pitti (cross the Ponte Vecchio and follow Via Guicciardini; you can't miss it)
tel. +39-055-238-8614
www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Tickets: Select Italy
Galleria Palatina, Appartamenti Reali, and Galleria d'Arte Moderna:
Tues–Sun 8:15am–6:50pm
Galleria del Costume, Museo degli Argenti, Boboli Gardens, and Museo delle Porcellane:*
Tues–Sun as follows:
Jun-Aug 8:15am–6:50pm (Boboli Gdns: to 7:30pm)
Apr-May, Sept-Oct 8:15am–6:30pm
[portions of Oct and Mar after/before switches daylight savings time: 8:15am–5:30pm]
Nov-Feb 8:15am–4:30pm
* Museo delle Porcellane closes 15 min. earlier
Museo delle Carrozze: Currently closed
(Pitti Palace is free the first Sunday of each month)
Tickets: Select Italy
Firenze Card: Yes
Bus: C3, D
Hop-on/hop-off: Pitti (A)
Planning your day: Budget at least two hours for a cursory visit of just the Galleria Palatina and Appartamenti Reali.
If you plan to venture into
the Boboli Gardens, give it another hour.
If you have only passing interest in the other museums, each will take about 20 minutes.
Note that the last entry for every museum or part of the Pitti complex is 1 hour before closing.
The major parts of the Pitti Palace complex (Galleria Palatina, Apartamenti Reali, Boboli Gardens, and Porcelain Museum) are covered by the Firenze Card—free admission, no waiting in line. » more
If all you're into is the art, you can get a ticket covering just the Galleria Palatina and Modern Art Gallery for €8.50.
If, however, you'd like to wander the rest of the collections (and gardens) as well, don't spend another €6 or €7 on the separate collective ticket. Instead, get the "biglietto cumulativo," an all-access pass for €11.50 that lets you into all the Pitti galleries, apartments, and gardens for three days.
Or just use the Firenze Card.
Take a guided tour of Palazzo Pitti with one of our partners:
Pitti Palace tours
Boboli Gardens toursWarning: The Pitti Palace seems to revel in closing a handful of its (lesser) museums for years at a time—lately, it seems to be the collection of fancy carriages in the Museo dell Carozze.
Just which ones will be closed at any given time and for how long works on some mysterious schedule I have yet to discern. Check before visiting if missing, say, the costume gallery or the porcelain museum will spoil your vacation.
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Piazza Pitti (cross the Ponte Vecchio and follow Via Guicciardini; you can't miss it)
tel. +39-055-238-8614
www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Tickets: Select Italy
Galleria Palatina, Appartamenti Rrali, and Galleria d'Arte Moderna:
Tues–Sun 8:15am–6:50pm
Galleria del Costume, Museo degli Argenti, Boboli Gardens, and Museo delle Porcellane:*
Tues–Sun as follows:
Jun-Aug 8:15am–6:50pm (Boboli Gdns: to 7:30pm)
Apr-May, Sept-Oct 8:15am–6:30pm
[portions of Oct and Mar after/before switches daylight savings time: 8:15am–5:30pm]
Nov-Feb 8:15am–4:30pm
* Museo delle Porcellane closes 15 min. earlier
Museo delle Carrozze: Currently closed
(Pitti Palace is free the first Sunday of each month)
Tickets: Select Italy
Firenze Card: Yes
Bus: C3, D
Hop-on/hop-off: Pitti (A)
This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in April 2015.
All information was accurate at the time.
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