Founded in Florence by Vasari in 1563, it was the first Academy of Arts to be set up in Europe. It brought together the greatest artists of the day so that they could compare each other’s work and exchange views on art, although without any didactic intent. With the reform carried out by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Peter Leopold, the Accademia was turned into a gallery as well, housed in a monumental complex that from then on included the museum, the teaching academy, the music conservatory, and the semiprecious stone workshops.
The museum’s nucleus of valuable works, coming from the Medici collections and from suppressed monasteries and church bodies, was enriched in 1873 by Michelangelo’s David, removed from its position in front of the Palazzo Vecchio on Piazza della Signoria for reasons of conservation. Since that time the whole gallery has come to be identified with this masterpiece, although its rooms also house precious tapestries, important works from the Florentine Renaissance, such as Michelangelo’s Prisoners, and one of the largest collection of paintings on a gold
