Overview
Four of Michelangelo’s unfinished Prisoners line the approach, figures half released from their blocks, and they explain the David better than any label — you can see the method he used to arrive at it. Beyond the sculpture the gallery holds Florentine painting on gold ground and a museum of historical musical instruments from the Medici collection, including a Stradivari. The building was the city’s fine arts academy from 1784, which is where the collection came from.
Highlights
Book ahead; without a ticket the queue outside is an hour or more and the gallery is small. Walk up the Prisoners slowly before turning to the David — the order is the point of the room. Half an hour after opening or the last hour before closing are the only quiet times.