Florence, Brunelleschi's Rotunda opens to the public. It becomes home to the Medici Museum

In Florence , Brunelleschi’s Rotunda opens to the public, which will become home to the Museo de’ Medici thanks to an agreement between ANMIG, the National Association of War Invalids and Mutilated, which owns the building, and the Festina Lente association, under the auspices of the City of Florence. The centrally planned Renaissance building will house the new Medici history museum exhibit.

The rotunda was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1434 but work only lasted until 1437, when the Florentines diverted resources to the war against Lucca. The octagonal building had originated as part of the adjacent monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, at the time frequented by Cosimo the Elder, Lorenzo the Magnificent and Leo X, who made it the most important humanist library of the Renaissance. Later, Cosimo I would have wanted it to be the seat of the Accademia delle Arti e del Disegno, entrusting its completion to Michelangelo and Vasari, but the project failed. In the 19th century, the “castellaccio,” as the Florentines called it, housed the workshop of sculptor Enrico Pazzi, who created the monument to Dante now in Santa Croce, but it was not until 1937 that Rodolfo Sabatini was able to complete the work with a huge dome in the rationalist style to make it the meeting hall of the ANMIG. In more recent times many students have known the rotunda as the Language Center of the University of Florence, but with its abandonment a decade ago, the curtain fell on a symbol of Florence and the entire surrounding area. And this is “despite the fact that, in recent years, the historic premises of the Casa del Mutilato have been the subject of guided tours by our association,” notes the president of the Florence Section Anmig. of Florence, Alessandro Sardelli, who then adds, “with the collaboration with the Museo de’ Medici we intend to persevere on the road to the enhancement of the complex and the entire area.”

“Brunelleschi designed the rotunda on the model of the Roman pantheon, we will make it the temple of the Medici, here every visitor can learn about the history of the women and men who made Florence and Tuscany immortal,” says Samuele Lastrucci, director of the Museo de’ Medici. “The happy collaboration established with the members of ANMIG, will give us the opportunity to open the rotunda to the public for the first time and, thanks to the agreement with the City Council, admission will be free for all residents.”

“A smart operation that will allow Florence not to lose the museum entirely dedicated to the Medici and to finally reopen Brunelleschi’s Rotunda to the public,” stressed Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Culture Alessia Bettini. “Returning an interesting project like Samuele Lastrucci’s to the city means projecting memory to the future, preserving such an important piece of history as that of the Medici family and at the same time enhancing a historic building like the Rotunda. This museum will be a place where tourists can discover who we are and Florentines relive centuries of glorious history, the splendor of a past rich in glory, industriousness and spirit of initiative. Making the cultural heritage usable and encouraging the protection and enhancement of cultural containers are the primary goals of the city administration.”

The inauguration in the presence of institutions and ANMIG leadership is expected in September.

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Florence, Brunelleschi's Rotunda opens to the public. It becomes home to the Medici Museum

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