This autumn, Florence will host a landmark exhibition titled Angelico, celebrating the life and work of Fra Angelico, a pivotal figure of the early Italian Renaissance. Running from September 26, 2025, to January 25, 2026, the exhibition marks the first major retrospective of the artist in Florence in over seventy years.Accompanied by Nirvana Romell, explore this exhibition which spans two venues - the Palazzo Strozzi and the Museo di San Marco - and offers a comprehensive exploration of Fra Angelico's artistic journey. It brings together an unprecedented assembly of his works, including pieces that have been separated for over two centuries. Artworks will be arriving on loan from Paris, Washington, New York, Berlin, Vienna to be, once again, reunited and exhibited in their hometown, showcasing the artist’s innovative approach to composition and his profound spiritual expression. The exhibition also places Angelico's work in a dialogue with contemporaries such as Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, and Lorenzo Monaco, as well as sculptors like Lorenzo Ghiberti and Luca della Robbia, highlighting the dynamic artistic environment of the15th Florence and the development of Renaissance ideas.
The 6-day journey offers a chance to explore that dialogue across other relevant sites in the city. On the first day, there is guided visit to the Uffizi Galleries housing numerous Renaissance masterpieces, and the recently reopened Vasari Corridor which links the city hall (Palazzo Vecchio) and the Uffizi with the Pitti Place across the River Arno.
Later in the journey, visit various churches to explore private chapels – such as Brancacci, Sassetti and Tornabuoni – where Renaissance painting was born in the frescoes and altarpieces commissioned by the Florentine bankers and wool merchants.
The party will return on the direct Ryanair flight to Manchester from Pisa (an hour’s drive from Florence) and this will offer the opportunity to explore this Tuscan city’s famous Campo dei Miracoli (‘Field of Miracles’), a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for a wonderful ensemble of medieval architecture. Dominated by four major religious monuments—the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the Baptistery, the Leaning Tower (campanile), and the Camposanto Monumentale—the square is a fine example of the Pisan Romanesque style, reflecting the city's historical significance as a major maritime republic.
Trip Leader: Mrs Nirvana Romell
Nirvana has been lecturing on the social history of Western art for 25 years and has presented numerous lectures to the Friends of the Whitworth. Her passion is cultural travel and in her work, she links the past with the present by combining aesthetic, historical and social theoretical approaches to art and culture. Those who travelled with Nirvana have particularly praised her ability to engage the audience and use her solid grasp of the subject matter to impart a lasting understanding of the artists, artefacts and their broader context. She has accompanied twelve previous Friends of the Whitworth visits, also organised by Distant Horizons.