The Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze celebrates the 550th anniversary of Michelangelo Buonarroti with the cultural resign L’eterno contemporaneo. Michelangelo 1475 – 2025 which will kick off on March 6, the birth date of the multifaceted artist. The event includes a rich program of events and initiatives, highlighting the extraordinary relevance of one of the most significant protagonists of the Renaissance.

Michelangelo’s artistic vision, his innovative spirit and the expressive power of his works continue to exert a profound influence on artists, scholars and audiences of every era. The review will feature personalities from the world of art and culture – including Cristina Acidini, Francesco Caglioti, Marco Pierini, Tomaso Montanari, Francesco Gori and Vinicio Capossela – who will offer different perspectives on the artist’s legacy.

“With the project L’eterno contemporaneo. Michelangelo 1475 – 2025 – highlights Massimo Osanna, Direttore Generale Musei and Advocating Director of the Florentine museum – the Galleria dell’Accademia celebrates an artist whose vision and innovative spirit indelibly marked the history of art and continues to inspire entire generations.

Our museums are no longer just places of preservation, but spaces for dialogue, workshops where works of art coexist with music, theater and literature, offering audiences new narratives and keys to interpretation. This year of celebrations for the 550th anniversary of Michelangelo’s birth is an opportunity to rediscover his legacy through an inclusive cultural experience that enhances dialogue and broadens accessibility so that artistic heritage can be shared and experienced by all audiences.”

The history of the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze is inextricably linked to the figure of Michelangelo Buonarroti. It was the year 1882 when the celebrated David was welcomed into the halls of the museum, finding its current location in “his” Tribuna. Subsequently, the Galleria’s collections were enriched with the presence of other Michelangelo masterpieces: the four magnificent Prigioni made for the tomb of Julius II, the St. Matthew sculpted for the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, and the Palestrina Pietà.

Over the course of 2025, events proposed by the Galleria will explore Michelangelo’s legacy and the ability of his works to dialogue with different expressive languages – from poetry to music and theater, as well as the figurative arts. At the same time, the history of the masterpieces preserved in the Museum will be explored in depth, providing tools for a greater understanding of the artist and his work.

L’eterno contemporaneo will begin on March 6 to celebrate Michelangelo’s birthday (March 6, 1475) in collaboration with the Friends of the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, which has supported and promoted numerous museum activities since 2017. A special evening opening (from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM) will feature thematic guided tours of the collection led by the museum’s expert art historians. Participation is reserved for members of the Association, who can join at any time via the Friends of the Galleria dell’Accademia website or on the evening of March 6.

Program of «L’eterno contemporaneo. Michelangelo 1475 – 2025»

The calendar of events for «The Eternal Contemporary» will come to life with a series of lectures exploring Michelangelo Buonarroti’s genius and complex personality, as well as his influence on art history.

Monday, March 10 (5:30 PM): Cristina Acidini will inaugurate the lecture series with Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna: A Friendship in the Name of Art, which will explore one of the most unique relationships of the Italian Renaissance, marked by spiritual, religious, and political significance. Over a decade, from 1536 or 1538 until her death in 1547, Michelangelo, by then a mature and renowned man, and the Marchioness of Pescara, a powerful woman and poet, exchanged letters and shared artistic reflections. Michelangelo dedicated drawings to Vittoria, centered on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the roles of women in Jesus’ life: the Madonna, Mary Magdalene, and the Samaritan woman.

Monday, April 7 (5:30 PM): Francesco Caglioti will present The David of Michelangelo: Prehistory and Protostory, examining the genesis of the masterpiece within a long historical perspective. The statue’s success was immediate and triumphant, fueled by generations of anticipation within Tuscan art for a figure of such monumental impact.

Monday, May 12 (5:30 PM): Marco Pierini will discuss Michelangelo’s Presence in Contemporary Art and Culture, illustrating the immense influence of Michelangelo’s work in 20th-century visual culture. Pierini highlights how Michelangelo serves as a unifying thread linking figures such as Giulio Aristide Sartorio and Robert Mapplethorpe, Leoncillo and Jan Fabre, Renato Guttuso and Kendell Geers. Michelangelo’s impact extends beyond the visual arts to architecture, cinema, popular culture, and music.

Monday, June 9 (6:00 PM): The Galleria will host a reading, Non ha la par cosa tutto il mondo, curated by Tomaso Montanari and Francesco Gori. The event will focus on the Prisoners and the complex history of Pope Julius II’s tomb, offering insights into the artistic, cultural, and political landscape of early 16th-century Rome. Excerpts from Michelangelo’s letters and biographies by Giorgio Vasari (1550 and 1568) and Ascanio Condivi (1553) will bring to life the prolonged and ambitious commission for the tomb, which evolved significantly from its initial grandiose conception.

In the Autumn Vinicio Capossela will return to the museum for a musical dialogue with Michelangelo, following his 2007 performance. The musician will present Fuggite, Amanti, Amor – Rimes and Lamentations for Michelangelo, accompanied by a group of musicians, including cellist Mario Brunello.

Monday, December 15 (6:00 PM): The Galleria will host another musical event in collaboration with the Conservatorio di musica Luigi Cherubini. The all-female Thesan Trio—Antonella Ciccozzi (harp), Giuseppina Ledda (flute), and Francesca Piccioni (viola)—will perform pieces by Claude Debussy, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Antonio Vivaldi’s Follia, interspersed with theatrical readings.

As part of L’eterno contemporaneo, inclusive pathways will be organized to make Michelangelo’s art accessible to a broader audience. From March 12-13 and again in the autumn (October-December), the program will feature six tactile visits in collaboration with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired in Florence and eight guided tours in Italian Sign Language (ILS) in partnership with the National Institute for the Deaf in Florence.

The San Matteo and the Prisoners: Exploring the Form within Marble experience will delve into Michelangelo’s artistic process through tactile exploration of his sculptures. Visitors will be able to touch St. Matthew and select Prisoners with gloves and learn about the sculptor’s techniques, aided by reproductions of his tools.

The thematic LIS-guided tours, Sculture in Accademia, will focus on the evolution of Renaissance sculpture, examining the expressive potential of materials and techniques by comparing Michelangelo’s works with Giambologna’s clay model of The Rape of the Sabine Women.

Michelangelo is not just a figure of the past—he is an artist who continues to speak to us, a fundamental reference for culture across all eras. With The Eternal Contemporary, the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence invites audiences to rediscover him with fresh eyes, engaging in a dialogue that intertwines history, art, and modernity.