Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli

The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno

Montorsoli was instrumental in the foundation in 1562–1563 of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, which was the academy of art and of artists in Florence until 1784, and which at first met in the Servite church of the Santissima Annunziata where Montorsoli had worked on the decorations of the Cappella dei Pittori, in which the order had given permission for artists to be buried. The Accademia was formed under the patronage of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and with the support of Giorgio Vasari. The first meeting was held on 13 January 1563. Montorsoli died on 31 August of the same year.