National Archaeological Museum of Florence

BRIEF HISTORICAL NOTES

The growth of the collections soon made the original premises inadequate, leading to the museum’s relocation to its current site in Palazzo della Crocetta (the former residence of Maria Maddalena, sister of Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici). It was inaugurated in 1883 in the presence of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Savoy.

Later, while Ernesto Schiaparelli enriched the Egyptian section with new acquisitions until its transfer to Turin in 1894, Luigi Adriano Milani (who became Director of the entire Museum) maintained the typological display approach for the ancient grand ducal collections on the first floor. He also added, on the ground floor, the so-called Topographic Museum of Etruria (1897), designed to illustrate the history of the Etruscans through materials unearthed during archaeological excavations, alongside reconstructions of several original monumental tombs in the Garden.

After him, Antonio Minto implemented a major transformation of the layout, recovering the second floor, where Greek, Etruscan, and Roman ceramic collections were displayed.

The 1966 flood destroyed the Topographic Museum. Currently, more than one hundred thousand objects are stored in the museum’s reserves, which will be made accessible to the public as part of the future exhibition project under development.

SHORT VISIT ITINERARY

Today, at the MAF, visitors can admire most of the ancient Medici and Lorraine collections (including ceramics, bronzes, and sculptures, as well as one of the world’s most prestigious collections of ancient coins and gems), the Egyptian Museum (including a selection from the rich collection of Coptic textiles), part of the topographic section with finds from major Etruscan funerary complexes, the monumental garden, and a rich selection of Greek vases discovered in Etruscan tombs (and beyond), some of which are world-famous, such as the celebrated François Vase.

NOT TO BE MISSED

The Egyptian chariot from Thebes, the relief of Seti I, the Fayum portrait, the Chimera and Minerva of Arezzo, the Arringatore of Perugia, the François Vase, the Gem Corridor, the Situla della Pania, the Sarcophagus of the Amazons, and the Sarcophagus of Larthia Seianti.