Istituto degli Innocenti and Galleria dell’Accademia Sign Cooperation Agreement for Exhibitions, Concerts and Workshops

The Istituto degli Innocenti and the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence will work together to popularise their immense historical and artistic heritage. The two historical Florentine institutions have signed a framework cooperation agreement - following the 2019 one - whose main objective is to popularise their cultural heritage through exhibitions, concerts, educational activities, promotional initiatives and other joint projects. The content of the 3-year, renewable agreement was presented at the headquarters of the Istituto degli Innocenti by its chairman, Maria Grazia Giuffrida, and Cecilie Hollberg, director of the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence.

Reduced Entrance Fees to the Innocenti Museum for Visitors of the Galleria dell’Accademia

According to the cooperation agreement, the Istituto degli Innocenti undertakes to grant visitors with a Galleria dell’Accademia ticket (issued within the previous six days) a reduction on the admission price to its Museum. Therefore, when visiting the famous museum that houses Michelangelo's David, tourists will also have the opportunity, at a reduced price, to discover the treasures of the building designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in Piazza Santissima Annunziata, admire the works of art housed in the Museo degli Innocenti, and take part in activities for children and families and themed visits.

Rich Programme of Concerts and Musical Activities

An important chapter of the agreement relates to the world of music and offers a rich programme of concerts and activities. Hitherto unpublished documents in the Innocenti Historical Archive have revealed that, in the late Renaissance-early Baroque period, children at the Innocenti studied and played instruments of the time such as the flute, trombone, cornetto and lute. Some of these ancient instruments are now part of the collection of the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory, kept and displayed at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence. This precious heritage, connecting the histories of the two institutions, has led to designing this first concert series. On this occasion, guided tours (booking required) of the collection of instruments on display at the Galleria dell’Accademia will be offered. There will also be joint visits to the two sites as well as workshop activities at the Bottega dei Ragazzi (Children’s Workshop). The concert programme offers five dates between May and June:

• Monday 15 May, at the Galleria dell’Accademia, an insight into the instruments and activities of Bartolomeo Cristofori in his early period in Florence, with a concert on two copies of keyboard instruments from the Medici collection (Cristofori's oval spinet and ebony harpsichord);
• Monday 22 May, at the Galleria dell’Accademia, focus on the English Longman & Broderip harpsichord from 1785 and a concert for English harpsichord;
• Thursday 25 May at 6pm, in the Women's Courtyard of the Istituto degli Innocenti, young people from the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory will 'give voice' to solo singing with early Baroque instrumental accompaniment;
• Tuesday, 6 June at 6pm, in the Women's Courtyard of the Institute, the Fiesole School of Music offers performances by S-bandiamo (the very youngest members of the School's 'winds' class), the Piagge Orchestra Choral Group and two chamber music groups;
• Sunday, 11 June at 6pm, in the Institute's Women's Courtyard, a concert with the Astrolabe ensemble music group and orchestra, which takes in young people with various disabilities.

Major Exhibition on Pier Francesco Foschi in November

On the artistic front, the first exhibition resulting from the agreement is dedicated to Pier Francesco Foschi (1502-1567), a Mannerist painter of the Florentine school, famous for his work as a portraitist. The exhibition will be held in the rooms of the Galleria dell’Accademia from 27 November 2023 to 10 March 2024. For the occasion, the Istituto degli Innocenti will lend its 'Madonna and Child with Two Angels', a painting it keeps in its Museum. The Institute will also carry out archive research to verify the history of the work, organising, as Bottega dei Ragazzi (Children’s Workshop), a specific workshop/visit for groups of children or young people and promoting the initiative on its institutional communication channels.