The Accademia dell' Arte del Disegno (Academy of Design) of Florence was the first academy of drawing in Europe. It is also called Accademia di Belle Arti (Academy of Fine Arts) or simply The Accademia. It was founded in 1561 with high patronage of the Medici by Giorgio Vasari, Agnolo Bronzino and Bartolommeo Ammannati, three of the central artists of Mannerism. At first the academy met in the cloisters of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata. Florence - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Drawing is one way of making an image: it is the process of making marks on a surface by applying pressure from or moving a tool on the surface. ... World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Events The Edict of Orleans suspends the persecution of the Huguenots. ... The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family during the Renaissance, whose wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Becoming first bankers, and later politicians, clergy and nobles, the Medici attained their greatest prominence during the 15th through 17th centuries... Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo, Tuscany July 3, 1511 - Florence, June 27, 1574) was an Italian painter and architect, mainly known for his famous biographies of Italian artists. ... Mannerism is the usual English term for an approach to all the arts, particularly painting but not exclusive to it, a reaction to the High Renaissance, emerging after the Sack of Rome in 1527 shook Renaissance confidence, humanism and rationality to their foundations, and even Religion had split apart. ...

When the Accademia welcomed Artemisia Gentileschi to membership, it was a signal honor to a woman. Judith Beheading Holofernes (1612_21) Oil on canvas 199 x 162 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence Artemisia Gentileschi (July 8, 1593 - 1653) is today considered one of the most accomplished Early Baroque painters in the generation influenced by Caravaggio (the Caravaggisti). Remarkably, in an era when women painters were not easily...

Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, decreed in 1784 that all the schools of drawing in Florence were to combine together under one roof, under the direction of the Accademia and that it was to contain a gallery of paintings by old masters to help the studies of the young artists. The Accademia, and the adjoining Gallery still occupy the premises that were assigned in via Ricasoli, a former convent and hospice. The Grand Duke also decided to include among the arts protected in this way, a conservatory of music (the Cherubini Conservatory) and, more extraordinary, a school of art restoration (the Opificio delle Pietre Dure). The title of Grand Duke (Latin, Magnus Dux; German, Großherzog, Russian, Великий князь) used in Slavic, Baltic, and Germanic countries, is ranked in honour below King but higher than a sovereign Duke (Herzog) or Prince (Fürst). ... Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ...

The Accademia has housed the original David of Michelangelo since 1873, when it was moved there to protect it, Michelangelo's Captives meant for the tomb of Pope Julius II, and Giambologna's original plaster for the Rape of the Sabine Women as well as outstanding 15th and 16th century Florentine paintings. Michelangelos David Michelangelos David, finished by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1504 (started in 1501) is widely considered to be a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, and one of Michelangelos two greatest works of sculpture, along with the Pietà. David portrays the Biblical David at the moment that he decides... Michelangelo Buonarroti, by Marcello Venusti Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (March 6, 1475 - February 18, 1564*) was a Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter, and poet. ... Pope Julius II Julius II, né Giuliano della Rovere (December 5, 1443 - February 21, 1513), was pope from 1503 to 1513. ... Portrait of Giovanni Bologna by Hendrick Goltzius Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna (1529 - 1608) was a sculptor who best known for his marble statuary and works in bronze. ...

External link

• Guide to the Accademia gallery (http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/galacc.htm)