Casa Buonarroti, on Via Ghibellina in Florence’s Santa Croce district, is the family palace of Michelangelo’s descendants. It is the best place in the city to see the sculptor’s earliest marble work and a rotating selection of his original drawings, without the crowds of the Accademia or the Uffizi.
Michelangelo bought property here in 1508. In the 17th century, his grandnephew Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger turned it into a shrine to his famous ancestor. On the first floor, the frescoed gallery rooms of that era show painted scenes from the artist’s life and honor his legacy. Two marble reliefs carved while Michelangelo was still a teenager are the main draw:
- The Madonna of the Stairs, a shallow, delicate relief
- The Battle of the Centaurs, a dense tangle of bodies
Also on view are his wooden model for the never-built façade of San Lorenzo and a terracotta River God model. The family collection holds about 200 drawings, which are shown in rotation for conservation reasons.
Visitor Highlights & Practical Info
The museum is open 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is closed on Tuesdays and on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 15 August and 25 December. Ticket sales stop at 4:00 p.m. A full-price ticket costs €8. The €5 reduced ticket covers students up to age 26 and adults over 65 (Casa Buonarroti). Allow about 90 minutes. Weekday mornings are the quietest. The Basilica of Santa Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, is roughly a five-minute walk south, so the two make an easy pairing.
