A visit to the “New” Duomo Museum
All of us were looking forward to the reopening of the museum after a long period of restoration of the interior. The museum reopened at the end of October 2015, and our expectations were more than fulfilled; this site is without doubt one of the most beautiful in Florence: “over 750 works of art covering 720 years of history.”
The restoration has affected not only the halls but also many works already present in the old museum.
The touching “Main Room”
The main room evokes the external area between the Duomo and the Baptistery called “Paradise.”
On one side of this room, you can admire a reconstruction of the old original facade of the Duomo (removed in 1587) with about 40 original pieces (statues, arches, and decorations)!!
On the opposite side of the same room you can see the originals:
- North door of the Baptistery (by Lorenzo Ghiberti, winner of the contest vs Brunelleschi in 1401).
- The east door of the Baptistery is known as the Paradise Gate (by Lorenzo Ghiberti). That means that the “3 sisters,” the North door, the East door of the Baptistery, and the old original removed facade of the Duomo can look at each other again after centuries of separation!
Do you miss Michelangelo or Donatello?
The museum also houses one of the three Michelangelo’s Pietà (video) the only one in which the master represented himself… in the likeness of Nicodemus!
A few steps away from Michelangelo’s Pietà, we will admire an incredibly moving wooden Mary Magdalene by Donatello.
Not yet enough? Do you ask for more? Ok!
You have heard that the marble reliefs and the statues on Giotto’s Bell Tower are only copies, and you would like to see the originals of the 14th century. Well, here in the Galleria del Campanile (the Gallery of the Bell Tower) you can see them all, restored and displayed…breathtaking!!.
In short words, the Duomo museum is able to enhance the artworks of hundreds of years ago with a modern concept.
