Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence

The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo is the museum preserving original artworks made for Florence Cathedral, the Baptistery, and Giotto’s campanile. Most exterior sculptures were removed from those buildings and replaced with replicas, while the originals came here for conservation. [articleExtractEn] Inside, you encounter the three original Baptistery doors by Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti, along with the cathedral singing galleries created by Luca della Robbia and Donatello.

[articleExtractEn] In the large Sala del Paradiso, the doors are displayed beside a full-scale reconstruction of the medieval cathedral façade, with the original sculptures returned to their intended places. [articleExtractIt] Look for Donatello’s Penitent Magdalene, carved from wood and covered with polychrome materials; it came from the Baptistery. [articleExtractEn] The museum also holds Michelangelo’s Pietà, made for his own tomb between 1547 and 1555, with the artist represented in the face of Nicodemus.

[articleExtractIt] This museum opened to the public in 1891. [inception] Its collection also includes paintings, illuminated manuscripts, vestments, metalwork, reliquaries, drawings, and musical instruments. [articleExtractEn] The result is a place where sculpture removed from the cathedral complex remains connected to the buildings and settings it was created to serve. [narrativeExtractEn]