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Fiammetta Michelacci Florence Private Guide
Welcome to Slow Art Tours in Florence!
I’m Fiammetta Michelacci, a licensed Tour Guide in Italian, English, and French. Having lived, studied, and worked primarily in Florence, a city close to my heart, I have come to intimately understand its beauty and complexities. Florence is not just a place I know; it’s where I belong.
Slow Art in Florence is a project that stems from my profound passion for Florentine ART. It’s about sharing this passion in all its dimensions, inviting you to embark on a journey that is not just about seeing, but truly experiencing. Whether you join me virtually through these pages or in person on the streets of Florence, together we will explore the city with eyes wide open and noses lifted, observing, analyzing, and discovering new details.
I can’t wait to welcome you to this enriching experience!
To accompany us on these pages, there will be a small turtle, the symbol of my project, representing both me and Florence. Slow but determined, the turtle is the symbol of Cosimo I de’ Medici: many small turtles in paintings, marble, or bronze populate the city, intriguing not only the grown-ups but especially the little ones, who, for me, are the most special audience of all! So… I look forward to seeing you!
The Florence of Vasco Pratolini
Vasco Pratolini was born in Florence, in via de’ Magazzini, on October 19, 1913. Via de’ Magazzini is a narrow and long street, like all those in medieval Florence. From…
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Of Ghosts, Monsters, and Heroes… (Discovery Journey through the Center of Florence)
Florence is a city full of a thousand surprises. You can find everything in Florence. Just look for it, keep your eyes wide open, and your mind alert. For example,…
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Boboli: an Entire Hill as a Garden!
Boboli Garden was the garden of the princes who lived in the grand palace of Palazzo Pitti. The first family to live there was the Medici family, initially wealthy bankers,…
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Palazzo Pitti…a Tiny Versailles!
Cosimo and Eleonora were beautiful, young, and, they say, very much in love. He, at seventeen, had become the Duke of Florence and had asked for the hand of Eleonora,…
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Explore Secret Paths at Santa Felicita – Artistic Journeys
You’ve likely passed by Santa Felicita countless times, the charming little church on the left after crossing Ponte Vecchio. Perhaps you found it closed or lingered before the Barbadori Capponi…
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The Most Florentine of All: Piazza Santissima Annunziata, the Basilica of SS. Annunziata, and the Museum of the Innocenti
If I were to name the most Florentine square of all, it would undoubtedly be Piazza SS. Annunziata. Adorned with the Brunelleschi-style loggia, expanded over the centuries on three sides…
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The Basilica of Santa Maria Novella and the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica
As a hub of Dominican religiosity, the Basilica, steeped in history, engages in a captivating dialogue with the adjacent contemporary Santa Maria Novella Station. The latter, a recent creation by…
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The Medici Museum in the Brunelleschi Rotunda
The Medici Museum is housed within the Brunelleschi Rotunda, once the seat of the University of Florence and later, for a long time, closed to the public. The building, particularly…
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The Bargello… an Enchanted Castle!
Have you ever seen an enchanted castle, one where beautiful princesses and brave warriors live, a castle bewitched by tremendous spells, with a tower that has a bell that rings…
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The David and… the Davids
The David. The David, as we all know him. The one with furrowed brows and a thoughtful gaze. The one with a stone clutched in one hand and a sling…
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Exploring Florence… The Religious Center
A meticulous visitor, strolling around Florence’s Cathedral, will catch a glimpse of Brunelleschi, somewhat in the background, contemplating his masterpiece, the dome. What might be going through his mind? Perhaps…
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The Uffizi Gallery
“What do they think they’re doing with that outfit? It always looks like a museum piece!” “What a clean and impeccable house! It’s not at all welcoming; it seems like…
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The Basilica of Santa Croce
“celeste è questa corrispondenza d’amorosi sensi“ (Celestial is this correspondence of amorous senses) The pristine marble facade of the Santa Croce church stands out against the blue sky. It will…
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A Journey to the Uffizi
U like Unicorn. U like Umbrella. And… U like Uffizi. Yes! Did you know that the Uffizi, a famous place all over the world, is shaped like a U? An…
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The Davidino (The little David) at the Accademia!
Did you know that in Florence, within a museum, or rather, in a gallery, there’s a colossal giant made of white marble? It’s so tall that when they decided to…
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The Vasari Corridor
Who knows what might have happened at night. Cosimo, on horseback, lingers in Piazza della Signoria before returning home after one of the numerous duties that the life of a…
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Exploring Florence… It’s Worth a Visit!
Florence, the city of the lily, the Marzocco, and the Medici family. Florence, a city embraced by the waters of the Arno, remarkably low during dry spells but alarmingly high…
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Michelangelo Buonarroti, one of the greatest artists in history, was born on March 6, 1475, in Caprese Michelangelo, a small village nestled among the rolling hills of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father, Messer Ludovico Buonarroti, of noble lineage but struggling financially, had moved there with his wife, Francesca di Neri del Miniato del Sera, who…
Museum of the Innocents, Piazza SS. Annunziata, October 27, 2023 – April 7, 2024. Let’s face it, finding Art Nouveau, the new art, or Liberty style as it’s known in Italian, in Florence is not easy. In Florence, the novelty that swept across Europe at the end of the 19th century— the pursuit of beauty…
The Bargello Palace, with its imposing and foreboding structure reminiscent of the Palazzo della Signoria, encapsulates the most haunting chapters in Florence’s history. This serves as a stark reminder that the city’s past wasn’t always characterized by harmony and the beauty reflected in the architecture or paintings of Botticelli. Constructed in the mid-13th century, during…