San Marco Museum Tickets

• Visit this charming museum located inside an ancient Dominican monastery
• See the masterpieces of Fra Angelico
• Skip the line and don't waste your time
• Once entered, spend inside the museum all the time you want

Museum

Once a Dominican monastery, it houses the largest collection in the world of paintings by Beato Angelico.

History

The Museum is housed in the Dominican monastery of San Marco, built between 1438 and 1444 by will of Cosimo the Elder of the Medici family, on a design by the architect Michelozzo, who created an architectural masterpiece of functionality, harmony and elegance.

The monastery, and the adjoining Library, once housing Greek and Latin books, was one of the most important centres of the Florentine Humanism, but its fame is mainly due to the splendid cycle of frescoes painted within 1450 by the painter-monk Fra Angelico, one of the greatest masters of the Florentine Renaissance.

Head of the monastery at the end of the 15th C. was Girolamo Savonarola, great preacher who inspired the Florentine Republic, then condemned as an heretic and executed on Piazza Signoria in 1498. The State Museum was opened in 1869.

Collections

The rooms of the monastery are located all around the Renaissance cloister by Michelozzo, on the ground and on the upper floor. The biggest collection in the world of panel-paintings by Beato Angelico has been displayed in the Hospice Hall (Sala dell’Ospizio) since the early 20th century. The section by the Large Refectory was arranged much later (1980-90) in order to house paintings by Fra Bartolomeo and the artists of the San Marco School.

The Last Supper frescoed in 1480 by Domenico Ghirlandaio decorates the Small Refectory. The big cycle of frescoes by Fra Angelico, remarkable example of contemplative art, starts in the cloister and in the Chapter House, but it is fully displayed on the upper floor, along the corridors and inside the cells of the dormitory. On the same upper floor the harmonious Library by Michelozzo houses a great collection of 15th century illuminated books.

At the far end of the dormitory, the cells once belonged to Savonarola show memories of his life and of his tragic death.

Masterpieces

Panel-paintings by Fra Angelico, in the Hospice Hall:

• Deposition of Christ (from Santa Trinita Sacristy), 1433 approx.
• Triptych of St. Peter the Martyr, 1428 approx.
• The Annalena Altarpiece, 1430 approx.
• The San Marco Altarpiece, 1440 approx.
• The Last Judgement and the Linemakers Tabernacle, 1432 approx.

Frescoes by Fra Angelico:

• In the Cloister: St. Dominic at the feet of the Cross
• In the Chapter House: Crucifixion
• Along the corridors of the Dormitory: Annunciation and Madonna of the Shadows
• In the cells: Noli Me Tangere, Annunciation, The Mocking of Christ, Transfiguration
• In the cell of Cosimo the Elder: Adoration of the Magi, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli, one of Beato Angelico’s assistants.

The following options can be purchased in addition to the tickets in the booking Wizard on this website.

Reduced/Half Ticket:

• European Community citizens between 18 and 25 years old (valid identity document needed at the entrance)

Free Ticket (it is still required to pay the presale to skip the line) :

• EU and not EU citizens under 18 years old (valid identity document needed at the entrance)

• Temporary and permanent teachers of Italian public and private schools equipped with the appropriate documentation issued by MIUR

• Any handicapped person accompanied by the certificate of disability and the escort

1. The ticket is valid all day until closing time of the Museum starting from entrance time.

2. The entrance time written on the tickets may be subject to small changes depending on the actual availability of the Museum.

3. For a satisfying experience it is recommended to reserve at least 1 hour and half to visit the Museum.

4. The tickets will be sent via email within 24-48 hours after purchase (on weekdays) with instructions on how to get there and what to do to enter.

5. We inform you that, once booked, the date and time selected are binding. Please pick up your ticket at least 15 minutes before the reserved entrance. Who does not respect the time booked will not enter.

6. The Museum has a maximum capacity of people, in some periods of the year or special days you may experience short delays or waits not dependent on the Museum or Italy Tickets.