The expo of Artisan Chocolate returns to Florence – this time in a new setting, the central “Piazza della Repubblica”. From February 10 to 19, forty selected Italian and foreign chocolatiers show and sell their delicacies.

A jolt of energy will hit Florence from 23rd to 25th September.

The entire city will be taken over by the events of the Festival dell’Energia, the Energy Festival, the most important on this theme in Italy.

La Bella Italia (Beautiful Italy) is a special exhibition celebrating the unification of Italy in the city that, from 1865 to 1870, was the second capital of the New Kingdom, and which offered Pitti Palace as the residence for King Victor Emmanuel II and his court.

Firenze Insolita è un progetto del Comune di Firenze – Consiglio di Quartiere n. 1 per il periodo ottobre – dicembre  2011. Si tratta di un progetto volto a valorizzare i luoghi meno conosciuti  e frequentati della città, attraverso una serie di iniziative culturali.

Coinvolge associazioni anche di categoria, cooperative, artigiani, negozi storici, ecc. che intendono partecipare al progetto con proposte da realizzarsi sul territorio del Quartiere 1.

Un'iniziativa per favorire l'integrazione e combattere il pregiudizio purtroppo ancora diffuso nei confronti di chi è portatore di Trisomia 21, nota anche come sindrome di Down.

Le Terre del Rinascimento, un patrimonio, tante opportunità. Il 26 e 27 novembre due giorni di incontri di incontri e visite per conoscere il sistema museale e turistico dell’area empolese.

The magnificent sites of Florence and its surroundings are presented through the reinterpretations of the artist Daniela Corsini in an exhibition entitled RE-fractions – “Filtered” Visions of Florence and its Province, in Palazzo Medici Riccardi, in Florence, from 5th to 27th November 2011.

Michelucci e Fiesole, un legame di sensazioni e amori con quella che fu una delle "città di Michelucci". Il grande architetto originario di Pistoia visse sulla collina fiesolana la sua lunga vita. A venti anni dalla morte (Michelucci morì il 31 dicembre 1990, pochi giorni prima di compiere 100 anni) Fiesole lo ricorda con una mostra di disegni.

Game lovers from all over will be meeting in Florence on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd October at the Saschall for FirenzeGioca, a fair entirely dedicated to games, which this year will be celebrating its 15th birthday. The protagonists of this incredible world will be welcoming a public including curious visitors, players, adults, teens and children, for two days of pure entertainment.

Ceramic art will dominate the art scene of Certaldo and of the entire Valdelsa in the autumn of 2011, thanks to the fifth edition of “CONCRETA”.

“CONCRETA”, the contemporary art project which aims to affirm the importance and the relevance of ceramics in the contemporary art scene, will, in fact, take place again, from September 3rd to November 1st, 2011.

Torna Digiarte, la manifestazione che si occupa di arte contemporanea e nuove tecnologie con uno sguardo privilegiato alla fotografia digitale. Il tema dell’edizione 2011 è un confronto genarazionale,  come recita il titolo Under 20/Over 60 Nati digitali o divenuti tali.

The photographic exhibition which is on at the Museo Chini of Borgo San Lorenzo shows  Mugello as it was one hundred years ago.

Firenze Gelato Festival is a mouth-watering event that will transform Florence into an open-air ice-cream parlour.

Russian art arrives in Florence thanks to an exhibition of treasures from the Kremlin Museum which have never before left Moscow.

On the second Sunday in September the whole of Bagno a Ripoli has a festival

Taking place in the town park is the event awaited all year long:, the Palio delle Contrade (Horserace) and the Giostra della Stella (Jousting).

The City of the Uffizi, a cycle of exhibitions in the greater Florentine area, transfers works of art from the Uffizi Gallery to other less well-known, but nonetheless prestigious museums in the province of Florence.

The chosen destination is Castelfiorentino, in Valdelsa, in particular the BE.GO. museum dedicated to Benozzo Gozzoli.

Italy has many “cities of ceramics” and Montelupo Fiorentino is one of them. If you are talking about ceramics around Florence, a reference to the manufacturers of Montelupo is unavoidable.The art of ceramics, characterized by its particular decoration, has prospered for centuries, from ancient times right up to its moment of splendour in the Renaissance and even nowadays remains an important activity in the area.

A new event enlivens the city of Florence, thanks to one of the most prestigious institutions that operate – albeit in the background – in this city.

The event is the newly-born Festival d’Europa, organized by the European University Institute from 6th to 10th May.

Opening in Fiesole is an exhibition on the Etruscans and their relationship with the afterworld and with the practices related to it.

The title of the exhibition is Gli Etruschi e il Sacro. Da Fiesole a Sovana (“The Etruscans and the Sacred. From Fiesole to Sovana”), and it is being hosted by the Civic Archaeological Museum of Fiesole (Via Portigiani, 1).

They come from the British Museum and the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Uffizi.

100 Renaissance drawings by some of the most famous Italian artists: Beato Angelico, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, Leonardo Da Vinci.

L’evento di primavera di Castelfiorentino, vivace città della Valdelsa, è In/canti e Banchi, ed è fatto di teatro di strada, cantastorie, artigianato, collezionismo, antiquariato.

Ma anche riscoperta di una tradizione artistica che dal Rinascimento arriva fino ai nostri giorni.

At the Stazione Leopolda of Florence the moving exhibition Dettagli di territorio (Details of a territory) will be on show from April 1st to 3.

Works of Italian most important photographers coming from the UBS Art Collection are on show in eight different Italian cities.

Una mostra sulla piccola Anne Frank sta girando l'Europa e dal 30 marzo all'8 maggio è a Firenze, presso l'Istituto Storico della Resistenza, in Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

The spotlight is on the works of the Ghirlandaio family, one of the most celebrated families of Tuscan artists of the  Renaissance: Domenico, the founder; then David and Benedetto, the brothers; Ridolfo, the son.

So this is much more than a simple exhibition: proceeding from a Florentine itinerary, the artistic path begun by Domenico is reconstructed, starting from the most well-known works.

Florence bears many traces of the Ghirlandaio family, from the Last Supper paintings in the churches of Ognissanti and San Marco to the frescoes in the Sala dei Gigli in Palazzo Vecchio, the Sassetti Chapel at Santa Trinita, the Tornabuoni Chapel at Santa Maria Novella, not to mention the splendid works on display at the Uffizi Gallery, the Palatina Gallery, and the Accademia.

On Sunday 20 February, Florence will host the 8th Incontro nazionale di Archeologia Viva, a day not to be missed for professionals and enthusiasts of archaeology, at the Palazzo dei Congressi.

The conference will last the entire day, from 8am – the time of the opening address – to 6.30pm.

An artist ponders, and expresses in photographic images, his own critical idea of  Israeli existence and identity. The artist's name is Adi Nes, he is forty-three years old and, obviously, Israeli. His photographs are on exhibit in Florence at the Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia.

Christmas is approaching and in both Florence and its province the squares are teeming with markets. Once the prerogative of the northern countries, Christmas street markets are now a big success here as well, and there are numerous to choose from for gift shopping or to see the towns in the territory in an unusual and charming light.

For some years now in Florence, the Weihnachtsmarkt (German for Christmas market) has descended from the city of Heidelberg and arrived in Piazza Santa Croce. The market stands sell Christmas decorations for tree and home, seasonal sweets like Stollen accompanied by the fortifying Glühwein (spiced wine), as well as German foods that are not Christmas related (wursts and sauerkraut in particular), all to be found in Piazza Santa Croce from 1st to 19th December.

In Florence there is also another Christmas-themed event: Florence Noel, in the huge Leopolda Station: from 4th to 12th  December, a fair entirely dedicated to gifts and decorations.

The exhibition Bronzino. Artist and Poet at the court of the Medici is held at Palazzo Strozzi from September 24 to January 2011.

In 16th century Florence Bronzino was an influential painter. Not just because he was the official portrait painter of the court of Cosimo I, but also because he mixed with all the great people of his time: Pontormo, a dear friend of his, Benvenuto Cellini, Baccio Bandinelli and “il Tribolo”.

And his chief pupil was Alessandro Allori, later also known as “the second Bronzino”

50 Tuscan painters for 50 Tuscan singers, that’s the exhibition going to be opened on November 7th at Villa Caruso Bellosguardo.

The idea behind the exhibition, which has already toured extensively in Tuscany before arriving at Lastra a Signa, is that the most important Tuscan contemporary artists have dedicated a work to a famous singer or song: among the many possible names, the common thread is being Tuscan, by birth or by adoption. The artists include Antonio Possenti, Nico Paladini, Eugenio Taccini, and Giampaolo Talani; the singers include Petra Magoni, Litfiba, Jovanotti, Dirotta su Cuba, and many more.

The exhibition Portraits and Power explores portraiture and the representation of political, economical and social power in the contemporary world through the works of contemporary artists.

Portraits of famous political figures, investigations into the lifestyle of the social elite, as well as inquiries into the power structures of international institutions.

The exhibition explores its theme from three main standpoints: it analyses power as an expression of the charisma of those individuals who have become icons or symbols of their age; it probes the power of institutions and social models that either represent themselves or are represented in a critical light; and it investigates the hidden mechanisms of powerful authorities.

The new exhibition of Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze takes the visitor on a journey to the roots of Florentine power in Europe, but it also explores the economic mechanisms which allowed the Florentines to dominate the world of trade and business and in so doing , to finance the Renaissance as an artistic season.

Through My Window, the big itinerant exhibition of the Korean photographer Ahae, will be in Italy for the first time in Florence, at the Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografia, from 1st December 2011 to 8th January 2012.

The exhibition in the State Archives of Florence celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy has an “educational” flavour.

The Gipsoteca – the collection of plaster casts – of the Accademia in Florence includes numerous plaster casts of statues by Lorenzo Bartolini, a XIX-century sculptor to whom the Galleria dell’Accademia is dedicating a one-man exhibition.

500 oggi. Le vite dell'arte in contemporanea è un progetto di installazioni di artisti contemporanei nel palazzo di Giorgio Vasari, la casa nella quale visse a Firenze in borgo Santa Croce e della quale è appena stata aperta al pubblico la Sala Grande, completamente affrescata.

Florence’s biggest park, the Cascine, will be providing a charming setting for country life in Tuscany: a setting in which the ten Provinces will be representing the ten aspects of the world of agriculture, land, rural and mountain landscape and everything that relates to these.

This fall, the Park of Villa Caruso in Lastra a Signa will be opening its gates to a very interesting event for those who love nature. This event is Botanica, which brings together themes related to art, science and the knowledge and preservation of the world of plants, focusing in particular on ancient or forgotten species.

The centenary of the birth of Annigoni is still being celebrated with the exhibition Pietro Annigoni in Pontassieve, which pays homage to the artistic output of this outstanding figure of the 20th century. Annigoni, an internationally acclaimed artist, was born in Milan in 1910, but Florence was his adoptive city.

A wealth of taste-tickling Sunday events await tourists in the Mugello and Florentine mountains in the month of October, during which, apart from tasting local specialities like chestnut tortelli, puddings, chestnut flour cake and whole boiled chestnuts, visitors can admire the treasures of the small villages.

The annual Tuscan festival Archaeological Nights 2011 is back for the 11th consecutive year from 2nd to 31st July.

Over 240 events are planned to celebrate and discover the region's past in over 100 museums, parks and archaeological sites.

Ten days of art and artistic craftsmanship are being presented at L’Arte del Gusto il Gusto dell’Arte, an event dedicated to creativity and food, that for the town of Pelago has become a pleasant end-of-summer tradition.

During the weekend of 2nd and 3rd July the prominent cultural institution of Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and the neighbouring town of Impruneta, with its ancient origins and traditions, join forces in a series of events in the name of art and good food.

After Rome and Venice at last Florence can be added to the list of Italian cities with a Hard Rock Cafe.

Just off piazza della Repubblica it's really worth a visit.

On the first Sunday in September there is the usual appointment with the European Day of Jewish Culture, which involves many people throughout Italy and in 28 European countries, desirous to get to know Jewish culture in all its aspects.

The day has an intriguing title: Jewish Heritage 2.0. From the Talmud to Internet.

It is one of Florence's more popular tradition: it is called la Rificolona and takes place on September 7.

Coloured paper lanterns are on display in the city center, held by children very proud of them. You can find plenty of them in piazza Santissima Annunziata.

On the next day, at dawn, the paper lanterns will be held on boats on the River Arno, starting from the City Rowing Society (under the Ponte Vecchio).

Un week end dedicato al patrimonio artistico e naturale italiano.

Il 26 e 27 marzo 2011 il FAI – Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano invita cittadini e turisti alla 19 ° Giornata FAI di Primavera, un'iniziativa che si svolge in tutta Italia e che ha quest'anno uno speciale percorso risorgimentale.

The name Tuscany conjures up thoughts of art, culture, a rural landscape and high quality wine.

All of these come together in an appealing initiative entitled Melodia del Vino. This is a festival of classical music with top performers, staged in various locations in Tuscany related to the production of famous wines.

Palazzo Strozzi's new exhibition is completely dedicated to the early works of artists - Picasso, Miró, Dalí – who played a decisive role in defining new tendencies in early twentieth-century art.

The exhibition opening in Pontassieve, Nel Segno della Sieve, is dedicated to Giorgio Rossi, a sculptor and painter born in San Piero a Sieve, who lived in Florence and Volterra and passed away in 1963, and whose talent has recently been rediscovered.

The Swiss painter Arnold Böcklin spent his last years in Fiesole, near Florence, at Villa Bellagio.

The city of Fiesole presents an exhibition entitled Isles of Thought, which reunites artistic experiences covering more than a century, with works by Böcklin, de Chirico and Nunziante.

The long awaited restoration of the Tabernacle of the Linaioli, a work by Beato Angelico, is displayed in Florence as part of the “Restituzioni 2011” exhibition event which makes it possible for the public throughout Italy to view restored masterpieces – the show, in fact, makes a first stop in Florence before moving on to other cities.

October 17th will be a day dedicated to cultural shopping. Very economical shopping, actually, but with a vast array of products offered.

The "Dì di festa" action (it means festive day) is an initiative organised by the cooperatives belonging to the Legacoop Servizi Toscana.

Thanks to the services offered by the cooperatives, on Sunday 17th October you can visit historic monuments, sip an aperitif in historic places, take a guided tour of archaeological sites, or visit the mosque and the synagogue in peaceful parallel.

Florence and other places in the province will be open to the initiative; you just need to make sure to book the individual activities.

When in Fiesole, it is always worth climbing up to San Francesco to visit the Franciscan convent and the Basilica of Sant’Alessandro, at present the venue of an art exhibition.

Antonio Manzi is the artist whose exceptional work is currently on show.

It was the year 1922 when Florence was presented, in the great exhibition entitled Mostra della pittura italiana del Seicento e del Settecento (Exhibition of Italian painting of the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries), over a thousand works of those centuries and those authors, (including, above all, many paintings by Caravaggio) which, brought together for the first time ever, greatly impressed and stimulated artists of the day.

From January 22nd to February 21st, the Archivio di Stato (State Archive) of Florence hosts the exhibition The six-legged dog, a travelling exhibition making a tour of Italy's most important cities.

The main theme of this monographic show is ENI's logo, namely, the six-legged dog, invented in 1952 by Luigi Broggini and, over the years,  modified four times without, however, substantially changing its look.

On Sunday 11 May the courtyards and gardens of Florence’s historic residences will be open to the public
There’s that historic palace which perhaps you pass on your way to work every day and dream of visiting, but the door is always resolutely shut. Or the villa you have heard about and which is the house of your dreams. Well, on Sunday 11 May, in Florence, and then on the following Sunday in Lucca, Pisa and Siena, you can make that dream come true, because many courtyards and gardens of historic palaces will be open to the public, with guided tours and concerts.

Il giorno prescelto è il 20 novembre 2010: tutti sono invitati nei musei del Polo fiorentino che sono indicati più avanti dove si terranno dei concerti di musica classica con ingresso gratuito, nei limiti della capienza dei musei, dalle ore 19.00 alle ore 22.00

The 13th Settimana della Cultura (Culture Week) will take place throughout Italy from 9 to 17 April.

State museums, archeological sites, libraries and archives will open their doors to the public free of charge. 

 But the week is also an occasion to visit places which are usually closed to the public or to take part in guided tours and conferences given by experts.  Classical music concerts will also be held in a few special venues.

This year, as always, the city of Florence will celebrate the end of the year in grand style, with free concerts in five squares of the town centre.

In Piazza Stazione, between the apse of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella and the Michelucci station, the big stage will host The Hacienda, I Ganzi and finally Elio e le Storie Tese, considered the inventors of “demential rock”.

In the heart of town,  Piazza della Repubblica, the concert will feature Camillocromo and then Funk Off, the official band of Umbria Jazz Festival, a high-energy band from Mugello with a repertoire ranging from soul to jazz to funky.

In Florence a new exhibition about the cultural atmosphere of the city between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Florence was living a particular moment of its history, after the short period as capital of the new Italian kingdom (1865-1870), which had left a definitive mark and attracted and “animated” energies with which to confront the changes and challenges of the new century, making the Florentine territory a source of inestimable cultural vitality of international reach.

Piercing feline looks, wild animals on the attack, roaming through the rooms of the Galleria d’Arte Moderna at Palazzo Pitti. These are the animals depicted by Antonio Ligabue, the painter who lived a life of suffering at the margins of society, like a wild creature on the banks of the Po.
Ruggito. Antonio Ligabue, la lotta per la vita (Roar: Antonio Ligabue, the struggle for life) is an exhibition devoted to the theme of animals, in particular wild animals in scenes of fighting and aggression – the Black Widow, the Leopard, Wild Cat with Kite, Tiger Assaulted by the Snake – along with numerous self-portraits in which Ligabue shows his face in the whole gamut of appearances of physical and psychic pain.

The exhibition comprises 77 works, including 53 paintings, 16 sculptures, and 8 drawings, all masterpieces of intense expressive force and unbridled chromatic energy.

Arte a Figline. Dal Maestro della Maddalena a Masaccio (Art in Figline: From the Master of Maddalena to Masaccio) is an exhibition in the series La Città degli Uffizi (The City of the Uffizi), a successful formula that takes back to the territory works related to the important Florentine museum.

Precisely because many works came from the towns of the province of Florence, this exhibition aims to recreate the atmospheres of the past in Figline Valdarno, a walled city created by Florence in 1251 on the banks of the Arno.

The Art in Figline exhibition is held in Palazzo Pretorio located in Piazza San Francesco in Figline Valdarno. It comprises four rooms with 22 works from various churches of the territory, from private collections, and from the Uffizi Gallery, with the objective to present the most culturally and qualitatively representative works of artistic production – with particular reference to painting and sculpture – among those found in the territory of Figline and the immediate vicinity in the period spanning the second half of the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century.

Of particular interest are the works by the Master of Maddalena – one of the most representative exponents of Florentine painting culture in the 13th century – and by the Master of Varlungo. The large fragmentary Maestà by the latter artist was situated in the early decades of the last century at Casagrande Serristori and its original destination in the territory of Figline can therefore at least be hypothesised.