Radically renovated in 2015 and with the conception of an educational journey to discover places, artists and those that contributed to the Renaissance era.

Sara Scoffield took a tour of the museum which left her wanting more and blown away…..

‘I have just visited the best museum, in the world. Ever. A museum I did not want to leave. The great, the glorious Museo dell’Opera. I know for a fact I will run out of superlatives in this article. I implore all to factor this treat into your holiday.

When the need for cultural perfection beckons, nothing beats a day trip to Florence! Until now the Bargello has always been at the top of my affections, stunning but not overwhelming collections by the great Renaissance artists but as I was soon to discover…the Museo dell’Opera, is on another level. 

The outside of the museum itself does not give away the sheer opulence inside. An unassuming yellow-painted building behind the Cathedral, the Duomo di Firenze, with some smart scarlet advertising banners hardly heralds the presence some of the famous masterpieces of Renaissance art within, although it has to be said the impressive stone coat of arms of Cosimo I de Medici does set off the entrance beautifully. Maybe it is the element of surprise that adds to the experience. 

Situated over three levels, it is not just the artefacts of such superb quality that will take your breath away from the very start, but the fact that they have been thoughtfully curated and imaginatively presented. I defy you not to walk slowly as you take it all in, starting with the Salone del Paradiso. 

How aptly named. The ancient facade of the Duomo has been re-constructed within this vast, airy space, with the original statues preserved and placed on this new faux facade. Facing it, just as if you were in the Piazza in front of the real Cathedral are the two stunning gates of the Baptistery built in 1400 by Ghiberti, gleaming in their gilded bronze-buffed brilliance . The ones outside are in fact copies - admittedly very good ones.

The upper Galleries do not disappoint after this jaw-dropping entrance, room after room filled with carefully selected artistic manna. The Gallery of the Campanile contains 16 impressive and original sculptures and 54 reliefs from Giotto’s Bell Tower. The Gallery of the Cupola is dedicated to the construction process of the Duomo’s famous crown, and the actual wooden models and refined instruments used by the artists to compete for its development truly beautiful to behold. The Treasury Room of the Duomo is a veritable trove brimming with ecclesiastical riches, dominated by a monumental cross and alter from the Baptistery made from over 400 kg of silver and 1050 enamelled plates devised and refined over several generations by talented artisans.

Do not miss the open air terrace on the top floor. It is here that the museum is brought full circle in real time. Here you will stand in reverence at an unexpected observation point of the ultimate example of breath-taking Renaissance engineering. 

Giorgio Vasari, the world’s first Art Historian, who wrote about and hung out with a few of these geniuses, would have been proud of this collection, in particular the choice of its final piece on leaving the exhibition by his declared favourite - Michelangelo. While his famous contemporaries Brunelleschi, della Robbia, Donatello, Giotto, Pisano are all represented here, it is the The Deposition - a Pietà by Michelangelo you are unlikely ever to forget.  The sculpture of the body of Christ carried by Mary Magdalen and Mary, Mother of Christ, overlooked by a self-portrait of the artist as Nicademus, was intended for his own grave. Who would ever take up sculpting when faced, up close, with an example of such sublime mastery? When Vasari claims after seeing his work one has no need to see that of any other sculptor, dead or alive, why even bother?? 

I visited this Museum of wonders amongst a footfall of tourists and endless power queues of patient pilgrims. Helpfully this realisation inspired my final superlative to describe the flawless craftsmanship of this final exhibit - SQUISITO.’