Sorry if this has been asked before but im having trouble finding a comprehensive guide.
Aside from the Last Supper are there any other "masterpieces" not contained in museums? Before you jump on me, Im a huge Renaissance art fan and just want to make sure I see all rhe classics. Will definitely be (and already am) visiting churches and cathedrals for their architecture and lesser know frescoes, but want to make sure I dont leave any geographical area withour taking in all the "famous" works.
For some amazing sculptures and beautiful gardens.
I would recommend the Cimitero Monumentale di Milano.
It is a bus ride from the plaza at the Duomo and it is amazing. We spent
several hours there looking at the art.
The Campari Family has a life size bronze of the Last Supper just to name one.
The step by step instructions for the bus etc are in the RS Italy book.
Admission is free.
The Museo di San Marco in Firenze used to be a Dominican Convent, and Fra Angelico painted frescoes in the public rooms as well as in every friar's cell.
Rick Steves' Italy will point you toward anything famous, and then some. For the cities it covers, I'd consider it a fairly comprehensive guide.
In Milan? In Rome? In Florence? All over Italy?
A complete list about the all country would take hours.
In Rome the 3 paintings by Caravaggio are still hanging in the Contarelli Chapel, at San Luigi dei Francesi. Michelangelo's most famous Pietà is, of course, at Saint Peter's. His Moses is at Saint Peter's in Chains. And these are only the easy ones.
There are tons of sculptures, paintings and frescoes in dozens of churches and buildings. Think at the Brancacci Chapel in Florence painted by Masolino and Masaccio or at Cimabue's and Giotto's frescoes at Assisi with the stories of Saint Francis that marked the first, big differences between western and byzantine figurative art.
Pisa's cemetery fresco near the Tower has been recently restored and it's astonishing, like the Triumph of the Death at Palermo.
Mantua? The Giants' Hall by Giulio Romano and the Bridal Chamber by Mantegna. In Siena there are the first secular frescoes, painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and paid by the city in the 14th century to promote civic pride. It worked!
Some approaches we use are:
Wife digs through her Gardener's to see if anything Giant Art History Book Worthy is nearby. That gets you things like the Pieta at Saint Peters and the Scrovegni Chappel in Padua.
I have some artists who I refuse to miss. Caravaggio is the top of my list. I figure where I'm gonna be and google Caravaggio and that region. That gets you the French Church, Santa Maria del Popolo (Featuring one of my favorite Caravaggio stories about the conversion of St Paul), Sant Agostino.
I do a quick check for some other less likely favorites. See there's no Jan Van Eyck in Rome, move to the next.
Last thing, see if there are churches with interesting altarpieces or paintings.
Can be a bit of research, depending on who you're looking for or how broad your interest, but gets you a big list that you can prioritize.
Mostly I defer to the wife, except the Caravaggio. She has a better foundation in art history and better taste.
Florence: Zoe mentioned Museo di San Marco (which is excellent)? Nearby is Piazza Santissima Annunziata, probably my favorite of Florentine piazzas, and blessedly quiet the day we were there. On one side is Brunelleschi's Ospedale Degli Innocenti (built 1419-27) with Andrea Della Robbia's famous tondi:
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/piazza-ss-annunziata.html
http://www.florence-on-line.com/piazzas/piazza-della-santissima-annunziata.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ospedale_degli_Innocenti
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/ospedale_degli_innocenti.html
On another side of the piazza is Basilica Della Santissima Annunziata with wonderful Renaissance frescoes - including a few by del Sarto and Rosselli, among others - in the unusual entry cloister. More works of note inside.
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Santissima-Annunziata.html#
You may have already had these on your list but given the scarcity of tourists - we were among few compared to other locations - I'm not sure how many visitors make it to this one but they're must-dos for fans of Renaissance art and architecture!
I just did a quick google that I've never done before and think it's pretty cool.
Google: "Church Art in Florence"
Get a top line image scroll including Masaccio's Holy Trinity, a St. Mark by Donatello, a Michelangelo Cricifix, a Madonna by Giotto, and a lot more.
Third link down was this:
http://selectstudyabroad.com/2013/05/art-in-florence/
which has 20 pretty great works to see in Florence that aren't in the Uffizi (except the Botticelli) and aren't completely obvious (except the Boticelli and The David, and if you're seeing The David, you're gonna see Gli Prigioneri, as they're in the walkway up to the The David and good to enjoy while waiting for the herd to move through The David).
I'm also a big fan of Renaissance art, but to the outside of museums part of your question, you might consider stepping out of your comfort zone.
How? By seeing some street art in Rome. A Scooteroma Vespa tour is one way to do it. The street art one is the third on the linked page. I'm sure there are other ways. I should be on the back of a Vespa doing that in about a week. This is some of what I hope to see.
Does street art count? If so, Rome has tons.
See this: http://www.romeing.it/street-art-in-rome/
In Rome , DO NOT MISS Bernini's Saint Theresa !! Watch this documentary on Bernini by the historian , Simon Schama - https://youtu.be/dJsD8mmWjM8
