The Stunning Marino Marini Museum In Florence

The Marino Marini Museum, is a museum located in the centre of Florence, in the old church of S. Pancrazio. Situated between via della Vigna Nuova and piazza Santa Maria Novella, this church was founded before 1000 and deconsecrated in 1809. It was used for numerous different purposes thereafter until the museum was inaugurated in 1988. The museum is dedicated to the life and work of the sculptor Marino Marini, but also houses older works of art and objects from its long past, in the historic and extraordinarily evocative and fascinating setting of this former church. It offers the unique opportunity to experience such a meeting of ancient and modern under one spectacular roof and is sure to impress art-lovers, picture-takers, history-buffs and architecture-fanatics in the group alike. Just find a luxury villa in Florence and be sure to pencil this amazing museum into your schedule!

The Museum contains 180 works by Marini that were given by the sculptor and his wife Marina at different times during his life; this includes sculptures, drawings and etchings. Each of the four floors of the museum contains a different genre of his art and is organized by theme, in accordance with his state of mind at different times in his career.

The space is perfectly designed to make the sculptures viewable from various angles, according to the artist's own ideas on how they should be experienced. At the core of the collection is the imposing equestrian group from The Hague that is placed dramatically in the centre of the old liturgical space, where light falls down upon the works from the large apse and illuminates the group.

Renovations were carried out on the building before it became a museum and while the alterations have created a space that engages the works of art and offers alternative points of view and different vistas as you move throughout the space, they also present the building as a work of art to be admired in its own right as well. It exposes the original architecture of the church interior and reminds us what this space once was and one would not want to miss out on the tales of its past.

The origins of the church appear to date back to Charlemagne, it was worked on by artists such as Leon Battista Alberti and Neri di Bicci and once housed the city's lottery, a tribunal and a tobacco factory. It is still home to the beautiful Sacellum of the Holy Sepulchre also known as the Rucellai Sepulchre, which still belongs to the Curia of Florence, and is considered a sacred site dedicated to worship. The site packs a lot of art, architecture and history into one location and is a great place to visit if you are exploring the art capital of Tuscany.