By Aria Ixchel and Gynna Bella. Cover image: “Time for Women! Empowering Visions in 20 Years of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women” at Palazzo Strozzi, Strozzina, 2025. Exhibition view. Photo Ela Bialkowska, OKNO Studio. Courtesy Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Florence.
Ready for a summer filled with art that’s as vibrant as Florence itself? The city’s legendary museums, galleries, and palazzos are bursting with creativity, from contemporary sensations to Renaissance legends and everything in between. Whether you’re an art aficionado or simply seeking inspiration, our guide to the 10 must-see exhibitions is your passport to an unforgettable summer of discovery.
Step inside, explore, and let the artistic magic of Florence sweep you away—because this summer, every corner tells a story, and every gallery is an invitation to experience wonder.
Florence Art Exhibitions You’ll Love- From Bold Feminist Voices to Timeless Reinassance Icons
Tracey Emin: Sex and Solitude at Palazzo Strozzi
Palazzo Strozzi is hosting an exhibition titled Sex and Solitude, a comprehensive exhibition featuring the work of British artist Tracey Emin. Running until July 20, 2025, the exhibition showcases over 60 works that explore themes of body, desire, and identity. Curated by Arturo Galansino, the exhibition features over 60 pieces spanning Emin’s career from the 1990s to the present, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, photography, film, embroidery, and neon installations. The show explores the central themes of sex and solitude, reflecting on the body, desire, love, and sacrifice.
Many of the works are being displayed in Italy for the first time, along with new pieces created specifically for this event. Emin is renowned for her raw, confessional style, transforming personal experiences into universal reflections on vulnerability, passion, and emotion. The art exhibition offers an intense and intimate journey, presenting her distinctive neon phrases and powerful material works in dialogue with Florence’s Renaissance heritage.
Time for women! Empowering Visions in 20 Years of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women at Palazzo Strozzi
Ready to be inspired by the power of women in art? Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and Collezione Maramotti invite you to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women with Time for Women!, an exciting art exhibition running until August 31, 2025. Step into the Strozzina and discover a world of bold ideas, creativity, and vision as you explore works by the talented winners of this groundbreaking prize. Each artist brings her unique voice, transforming personal stories and global themes into unforgettable art.
This is a wonderful opportunity to experience the energy and diversity of contemporary female artists, all in the heart of Florence. Don’t miss out on this celebration of empowerment, innovation, and the future of art—because it’s truly a time for women!
Caravaggio and the Twentieth Century. Roberto Longhi, Anna Banti at Villa Bardini
Until July 20, 2025, the stunning Villa Bardini in Florence is hosting Caravaggio and the Twentieth Century: Roberto Longhi, Anna Banti, an art exhibition that’s way more than just a display of classic paintings. It’s a vibrant journey celebrating the couple who reshaped Italian art history and rediscovered Caravaggio for the modern world.
As you wander through twelve beautifully designed rooms, you find masterpieces like Caravaggio’s Boy Bitten by a Lizard, Jusepe de Ribera’s Apostles, and a unique collection of ten works by Giorgio Morandi, which were personally gifted to Longhi and Banti. Alongside these treasures, you will encounter rare photographs, documents, and multimedia that bring to life the stories of the artists and intellectuals who made the 20th century extraordinary.
This art exhibition is a love letter to curiosity, creativity, and the power of sharing art with everyone. Don’t miss your chance to be inspired by the legacy of those who saw Caravaggio not just as the last Renaissance painter but also as the first modern artist!
Gabriele Picco: Carrying a Cloud at Gallery Hotel Art
Step into a world where dreams and reality blur! Gabriele Picco’s exhibition, Carrying a Cloud, open (until October 20, 2025), invites you to explore a poetic universe where delicate sculptures and atmospheric installations seem to float between walls. Inspired by the lightness of clouds and the weight of memory, Picco’s work transforms the gallery into an enchanting space filled with wonder and quiet emotion. Don’t miss this chance to wander through a landscape where art carries you away, much like a cloud drifting across the sky.
Thomas J Price in Florence at Museo Novecento and Piazza della Signoria
Until June 11, 2025, Museo Novecento is showcasing Thomas J Price in Florence, an unmissable showcase featuring monumental sculptures that challenge our perceptions of people, power, and history.
With a cool mix of traditional techniques and digital innovation, Price creates larger-than-life bronze figures that pop up in the museum courtyard and even in the iconic Piazza della Signoria. His mysterious, fictional characters encourage visitors to look closer and question who gets to be a hero in public spaces, especially in a city famous for its Renaissance legends like Michelangelo’s David.
Step inside Museo Novecento to discover Price’s impactful works, which ignite conversations about identity, value, and belonging. Don’t miss your chance to see how contemporary art can shake up tradition right in the heart of Florence.
Fotografia-Tracce Fiorentine at Trattoria 4 Leoni
Craving art to accompany your pasta? At Trattoria 4 Leoni in Florence, the walls offer more than just delicious food—they become a vibrant gallery hosting Fotografia – Tracce Fiorentine. Until March 2026, this beloved restaurant showcases a series of solo photo exhibitions by six talented photographers, each with a unique connection to Florence.
Currently spotlighting Lorenzo Bojola, the exhibition invites you to enjoy poetic snapshots of Tuscany’s landscapes—rolling Chianti hills, shimmering waters, and leafy branches—all captured with a painter’s eye and a contemporary twist. Curated by Anna Maria Amonaci, the series is all about how Florence’s light, geometry, and spirit shape the way artists see the world.
Step inside, savour a meal and let your eyes indulge in the beauty and fragility of Tuscany, blending tradition and innovation in every frame. It’s a genuine taste of Florence—for both your palate and your soul!
Ettore Pinelli. Unstable Nature at Galleria Cartavetra
Are you ready to experience nature in a whole new way? From now until June 21, 2025, Galleria Cartavetra in Florence invites you to explore Unstable Nature, a solo exhibition by Ettore Pinelli that will change your perspective on the world around you.
Pinelli’s works delve into the fragile beauty and hidden tensions within landscapes, blending painting and drawing to capture nature’s ever-changing moods. As you wander through the gallery, every piece tells a story about transformation, resilience, and the delicate balance between human and natural forces.
Step inside Galleria Cartavetra and allow Pinelli’s art to take you on a journey through the wild, the unpredictable, and the wonderfully unstable aspects of nature—all in the heart of Florence!
Arte Povera: The Beauty of Essence at Tornabuoni Arte
Get ready to see the world with fresh eyes at Galleria Tornabuoni. Until June 27, 2025, the gallery invites you to discover Arte Povera: The Beauty of Essence, a vibrant celebration of one of Italy’s most revolutionary art movements. Born in the 1960s, Arte Povera turned everyday objects and humble materials into powerful statements, proving that true beauty and meaning can be found in simplicity.
The art exhibition features iconic works by legendary artists like Michelangelo Pistoletto, known for his mesmerising mirrored portraits, as well as Alighiero Boetti, Mario Merz, Jannis Kounellis, Giuseppe Penone, and Gilberto Zorio. Each piece encourages you to slow down, look closer, and rethink what art can be, using everything from wood and glass to mirrors and natural elements.
Come and experience how Arte Povera transformed “poor” materials into rich ideas, challenging consumer culture and inspiring new ways of seeing. It’s a must-see for anyone who appreciates art that is bold, thoughtful, and beautifully essential!
Angelico at Palazzo Strozzi
From September 26, 2025, to January 25, 2026, Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the Museo di San Marco in Florence will present Angelico, a major exhibition dedicated to Fra Angelico, a foundational figure of the Italian Renaissance. The exhibition, the first in Florence focused on the artist in over 70 years, will span both Palazzo Strozzi and the Museo di San Marco, where Angelico lived and worked.
The exhibition will reunite numerous masterpieces by Fra Angelico for the first time in over two centuries, featuring exceptional loans from leading international museums such as the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Gemäldegalerie. The show will explore his artistic evolution from late Gothic roots to the adoption of Renaissance principles, highlighting his mastery of perspective, light, and spiritual depth. It also places his work in dialogue with other key artists of the period, including Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, and sculptors like Lorenzo Ghiberti and Luca della Robbia. This is a unique opportunity to experience Angelico’s profound vision and artistic innovation. Save the date!
Haley Mellin at Museo Novecento
Art that cares for the planet: Haley Mellin—painter, land artist, and passionate environmentalist—brings her magic to Florence with a special project at Museo Novecento. Her first solo museum show in Italy will open on June 24, 2025, coinciding with San Giovanni Day, and it marks a milestone for the city. Mellin’s work is all about protecting nature; her stunning paintings and drawings capture the beauty of wild landscapes, while her real-life activism contributes to the conservation of millions of acres around the globe.
For Florence, she’s not just leaving behind beautiful art but also transforming the museum’s cloister through a collaboration with the Re:wild foundation, co-founded by Leonardo DiCaprio, to promote biodiversity and sustainability. Step into Museo Novecento and discover how Mellin’s art and vision will stay with Florence for years to come, inspiring us all to care for the planet—one brushstroke and one hectare at a time.
