Traveler's Life: Museums in Florence Accademia Gallery of Modern Art

Florence has over forty museums and art galleries. The two giants are, of course, the Uffizi Galleries and the Pitti Place. They contain priceless collections of the world's greatest art, and they require slow, unhurried, reflective visits for maximum enjoyment.

One other Florentine museum-the Accademia at the Piazza San Marco (from the Duono, walk down the Via Ricasoli to reach it)-may alone be worth your entire trip to Europe. For here, in a magnificent setting, stands the riginal of Michelango's David; and when you've seen it, you'll realize how inadequate are the weatherworn copies of it that are scattered elsewhere in Florence. Here, too, are several unfinished sculptures of Michelangelo, all the more fascinating because they give you a glimpse into the method of their creation.

The Gallery of Modern Art in the Pitti Palace contains a superb collection of all-Italian artists representing at least the first 30 years of the century; it may one day be the outstanding Italian collection representtative of our times.

Casa Buonarroti, 70 Via Ghibellina, should be on the list of Michelangelo lovers. This house, once occupied by a nephew of the sculptor, is now a museum. In addition to three original figures by Michelangelo, there is a large collection of his anatomical and architectural sketches. For those who have already admired his Pietas in the Duomo and the Accademia, the museums has reproductions of the other two which are in Milan and Rome.