Museo Nazionale di San Marco

The Museo Nazionale di San Marco is a museum in Florence sited in the former Dominican convent of San Marco and best known for the extensive frescoes painted by Fra Angelico. The convent complex preserves monastic cells, cloisters, a refectory and library, many decorated with early Renaissance art.

Key highlights are the small, frescoed cells where Fra Angelico painted devotional scenes and the larger chapel and corridor fresco cycles dating to the 1430s and 1440s. The museum also displays altarpieces, panel paintings and works by other Florentine artists, together with documentary materials related to the convent.

Originally founded and occupied by Dominicans, the convent was a working religious house in the 15th century and later became a state museum that opened its monastic spaces to public viewing. Conservation has focused on preserving painted surfaces and the architectural setting so visitors can see the works in situ.

The museum sits in the San Marco district of Florence, a short walk north of the cathedral and central historic sites, making it accessible to visitors exploring the city centre.

• Architectural and artistic core: Housed in the former Dominican convent of San Marco, the museum preserves a major ensemble of early Renaissance frescoes by Fra Angelico executed in the mid-15th century.

What to See #

• Fra Angelico's cells: Fra Angelico's monastic cells and corridor frescoes, painted in the 1430s and 1440s, remain the museum's most important and frequently visited spaces.
• Painting galleries: Gallery rooms containing altarpieces, panel paintings and works by other Florentine artists such as Domenico Ghirlandaio and Fra Bartolomeo.
• Library and chapter house: The old convent library and chapter house displaying manuscripts, religious books and examples of Dominican documentary collections.