CUMULATIVE TICKET - this ticket allows entrance to the following museums located inside Pitti Palace: Silver Museum,Porcelain Museum, Costume Gallery, Boboli Gardens and the Bardini Garden.
The Grand Ducal Treasure Museum
The Medici showed their passion for precious objects in their extraordinary collections, displayed today in the Museum.
Jewellery, cameos, small figures encrusted with pearls and gems were kept in cabinets in ebony wood, decorated with inlay panels in semiprecious stones. For the Grand Dukes the skilled artisans of the court created also luxurious items in rock crystal, ivory, amber, agate and lapislazuli, like vases, cups and table fountains, and richly decorate reliquaries in baroque style.
The Garden of Boboli
The Boboli gardens are the largest green area included in the town walls of Florence. The Medici bought the Pitti Palace in 1549: shortly after their architects started creating the gardens, on the slope of the hill behind the palace and on the adjacent plots of land, where the Pitti had moscatello vineyards. According to the Renaissance taste, the garden is a natural space arranged according to geometrical schemes. Trees, meadows and hedges together with fountains, statues and artificial grottoes create a perfect combination of art and nature.
Costume Gallery
The important collection of historical costumes is displayed in the rooms of the Meridiana, the favourite apartment of the last grand dukes of Tuscany in the Pitti Palace. Started as a small group of garments found in the palace, the collection has been enlarged during the years, thanks to purchase and donations of important items. From the end of the 18th century, fashion history is illustrated through the Ottocento up to nowadays, the recent years being represented by famous designers, Elsa Schiaparelli, Gianfranco Ferrè, Emilio Pucci, Roberto Cavalli. This same museum displays the garments of Grand Duke Cosimo I, his wife Eleonora from Toledo and of one of their sons, Don Garcia. These rare examples of 16th century clothing have been taken out of the tombs of the Medici and restored by the Gallery.
Porcelain Museum
On top of the hill of Boboli, the Casino del Cavaliere, a small and nice 18th century building, houses the Porcelain Museum. The three rooms display tableware of the Medici and Lorraine Grand Dukes, and also of the King of Italy, according to its provenance. The secret to produce this precious material known only by Chinese and Japanese, was discovered in Meissen at the beginning of the 18th century: from the German factory, which provide also porcelain for the Medici table, the ‘arcanum’ was stolen by other European courts. The other factories documented in the museum, were all founded during the same century: Vienna, producing tableware used on special occasions by the Lorraine court of Tuscany, Sèvres and Ginori, producing items for daily use of the court.
Bardini Garden
The villa Bardini, home of the famous Florentine antique dealer of the turn of the 19th century Stefano Bardini, has recently been restored together with its garden. The large green area has been brought back to its original beauty and variety: it combines an English garden to the geometrical spaces created along the slope of the hill, marked by a monumental stairway. On top of it Bardini created a beautiful terrace, adding to already existing structures a portico with reliefs and other architectural elements from his collections. Here his clients, visiting his show room, could enjoy the spectacular view of Florence you discover from the hill top.
