Formerly Villa Manadora, Villa Bardini boasts the title of “most beautiful view of Florence“, earning the nickname “Villa Belvedere”. Today Villa Bardini, a place rich in history, art and culture, has become an exhibition centre with a fondness for contemporary art.
Being a connoisseur of art and unbridled merchant in antiquities, Stefano Bardini (1836-1922) donated his private collection to Florence. It was displayed in this Neo-Renaissance Villa – a former church and convent of San Gregorio della Pace – that he himself chose to house his antiquarian gallery.
The Bardini collection is made of over 2000 items, including sculptures, paintings and objects of applied arts, from ancient art to that of the 18th century, with a majority of works from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Among its most significant pieces are St. Michael the Archangel by Antonio del Pollaiolo, the Madonna of the Ropes by Donatello and Guercino’s Atlas.
The scenographic Giardino Bardini – four hectares of woodland, an Italian-style garden, a kitchen garden and an orchard – is visitable separately with the same ticket used for the Boboli Gardens.
Along with temporary exhibitions, Villa Bardini hosts:
– the Pietro Annigoni Museum dedicated to the great realist painter.
– the Roberto Capucci Museum.
– the Michelin-starred restaurant La Leggenda dei Frati
