Florence - Academy Art Gallery Galleria dell'Accademia

The first floor rooms which were opened up in 1985 show Florentine works of art which supplement those from the late 14th to mid-15th century on display in the Byzantine and Florentine Rooms.

The Accademia is the one place, above all others, where it is possible closely to follow Michelangelo's creative process as a sculptor. In the Galleria del David can be found the four unfinished figures of the Slaves that Michelangelo planned for the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome. Between 1519 and 1536 he worked on six statues in all but was unable to complete them. After his death they were set up in the Giardino di Boboli, which is why they are also known as the Boboli Slaves. In 1909 four of these figures came to the Accademia, the "waking slave", the "bearded slave", "boy" and "Atlas": the other two are in Paris in the Louvre.

Also unfinished is the figure of St Matthew, sculpted by Michelangelo in 1505/1506. With eleven other statues of apostles, which were not even begun, it was intended for Florence Cathedral. The block of marble is distinctly flatter than those of the Slaves, as the statue was intended to be viewed from the front.

A certain lack of balance in the Pietà di Palestrina in this hall has of late caused doubt to be cast on whether this piece is actually by Michelangelo. It may possibly have been carried out by one of his followers under his direction.

Of all Michelangelo's sculpture his "David" takes pride of place. In 1873 the Florentines installed it here after removing it from its original setting in the Piazza della Signoria to protect him from the ravages of the weather (traces of which are still visible), and putting a copy in its place. After a visitor destroyed one of the figure's toes in September 1991 with a hammer the sculpture now has to be viewed behind glass.

At the age of 26 Michelangelo had accepted a huge block of marble which had been rejected by others because of its proportions - it was over 4m/13ft high but relatively lacking in depth. He worked on it from 1501 to 1504 to create a figure of youthful energy and beauty, his "David", who according to the Bible was an Israelite shepherd-boy who emerged victorious from his seemingly hopeless battle with the giant Goliath. Even Michelangelo's contemporaries praised his statue's virtues: the perfect harmony of the body, the noble posture of the head, the alert expression on the face, the tension of the warrior about to go into battle and the tranquillity of the future victor. David became the symbol of the spirit of liberty in Florence, the irrepressible urge for independence of its citizens and their political representatives, the Signoria. During the disturbance in the city in 1527 (when the Medici were driven out) David's left arm was smashed but the fragments were gathered up and reassembled.

To the right of the David is a bronze portrait of Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra, probably the most authentic of the known portraits of the artist.

The walls of the Tribuna del David, like the walls of the Galleria, used to be hung with great 16th century tapestries but their state of conservation caused them to be removed during the comprehensive rearrangement of the museum in the mid-1980s, when they were replaced by Florentine works of the 16th century by such artists as Alessandro Allori, Stefano Pieri and Santi di Tito.

The "Byzantine Rooms" house the oldest works in the Academy collection, dating from the late 13th and the 14th centuries. The first room has one of the museum's most important works, Pacino di Bonaguida's "Tree of Life" (ca. 1310). It shows Christ's Crucifixion on a tree with twelve branches, and below it Genesis from Man's Creation to his expulsion from Eden, and above the Heavenly Host, saints, Christ and the Virgin Mary. The second and third Byzantine rooms contain works by artists including Taddeo Gaddi, one of the major artists of the 14th century.

The three "Florentine Rooms" hold 15th century works of art. The first room contains the "Adimari Chest", with a grand wedding procession on the front. Clothes were kept in this type of long chest in the 15th century. The highlight of the second room is a Madonna by Sandro Boticelli, from soon after 1470, and there is another work attributed to Boticelli in the third room, the "Madonna del Mare", from around 1470, which with its gentler appearance and softer outlines, shows marked differences from the Madonna in the previous room.

The Salone del Colosso contains Florentine works of art of the early 16th century by, amongst others, Perugino, Filippino Lippi and Fra Bartolomeo della Porta, as well as an original plaster version of Giambologna's "Rape of the Sabine".

The "Tuscany Room" has 19th century works by members of the Accademia delle Belle Arti, together with the plaster casts by Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850) and Luigi Pampaloni (1791-1847) for their subsequent sculpture in marble.