Accademia del Giglio

Fantastico! I learned so much this week at Accademia del Giglio. I did the half-day, week-long program and I am a beginner artist (focusing on drawing). I was in a room with about 4 other students and we all were able to learn what we wanted. Stefano, our amazing teacher, worked 1-to-1 with each of us and really managed the class well, balancing instruction (in English or Italian) with exercises/practice. I left with so much confidence and enthusiasm. The school is in a great location and I believe it's perfect for any age/skill/ability. Highly recommend - in fact, I'm planing to return again!

My sisters and I had a great time at Rosy’s class. Watercolouring along the Arno helped us to decompress after long days of sight seeing. Rosy was able to accommodate multiple levels of experience, and we all had a good time. We even bought our own watercolour set at a local art store and have continued to paint as we travel through Italy.

Such an excellent experience! I'm from Canada, and I recently completed a three-month curriculum at Accademia del Giglio. The open structure helps you focus on what you want to learn, and I can't say enough good things about the staff - always attentive and polite, making every day enjoyable. The instructors are very patient and give great feedback during the creative process. I'm a painter with a lot of experience and although I usually paint alone, it was so nice to paint alongside others every day - discussing art creation and life as an artist. I attended from November through January and I'd highly recommend this time of year (quiet time for tourism and beautiful holiday displays!). Special thanks to Lorenzo for helping me finally get to the school! - Molto Grazie!

Just finished a 5 day intensive that I booked online before arriving to Italy! I paid 750$usd for 4 full days and 1/2 each day a full almost 7 Hours of Work. So 4 and a half days. Staff sent me the “wrong link” after directly asking via their WhatsApp number I was interested solely on oleo technique. I accepted however to be taught the 5 technique: even though according to their website they name 8 technique to choose from, including sculpture, this was left behind for me to choose. So no Sculpture practice or option to do it. One of them I chose, was Fresco technique, and I was shown only the last step. For some reason there was Zero Canvas preparation for the Oleo and Acrylic work. That meant acrylic paint will stick and dry quickly plus I was given No Medium for acrylic paint, and told to Blend and Blend. When preparing the “paper” for the pastel work, I wasn’t shown how the Head Teacher mixed the formula, nor explained the ratio of proportions used to prime it. Their website mentions brushes technique explanation and more details that I was waiting for and waiting and never arrived. In all artistic works they focus mainly on “blending/sfumato” technique. It is a good environment and head solely teacher in charge makes a great job at keeping an eye at each student’s progress, however there is lack of depth and missing knowledge or practice. I would recommend the school to Update their Website with Truthful information about their programs for International newcomers and Travelers. The study here felt too quick without detailed steps and form to follow, basic primatura techniques no shown or explained. Zero apologies from the staff when making mistakes by wrong information to prospect students requirements. I would suggest a serious Oleo student or any Serious artist, this is not the most convenient place. If you are like me, who comes to Italy with the passion to learn Italian Old school technique, this is NOT the place. A more beginner’s practice and perspective.

What a great experience!! I came to Florence for 2 weeks and by found this art school because it was by where I was staying. It was the highlight of my trip and I will be coming back to Florence because of this school. I'm an abstract artist, I never studied the color scheme and how to manipulate colors to add depth. Lorenzo took the time to explain this and showed me how to blend colors to make the different colors. He was very patient and had a great knowledge that was so useful. I felt like I was out of my element, as a abstract painter one does not sit and paint from another painting. You just paint most of the times without thinking. However, both Stefano and Lorenzo pushed me in an encouraging comfortable way and they both gave me the confidence in being able to make not one but 3 paintings. If you are in the area and always had an inclination to study art go for it. You will be happy you did, like I am. I could only do two days which was really short, so I plan to come back and take more classes for a longer time.

What a great experience! They met us at our hotel and walked us to the studio. Just one instructor for the two of us and a three hour session. Our creations are attached in our photos. What fun!

This has undeniably been one of the best experiences of my life. The atmosphere is phenomenal, and the dedication of the teachers is remarkable. They genuinely help you develop your talent to its maximum potential. I highly recommend this experience to anyone looking to grow.

Accademia del Giglio was one of the best experiences of my European tour. (I attended two, eight week courses) All of my life, my artistic side was pushed down by those around me. I never felt ok letting my artiste out. Appollon my art instructor and the amazing staff there embraced me and were so patient. At the end, I felt so much better about my art. I relearned all I had lost so many years ago and also learned so much more. Thank you AdG for being amazing humans and fantastic art teachers! I cant reccomend this school enough!

I studied at this school for a good chunk of time while living in Florence, and your personal experience can vary a lot here - mine was not so great. They offer studies in the fine arts and in the Italian language, and I only studied art, so I have no idea how the Italian education was. The school's art 'curriculum' is very misleading, seeing as they actually have none, and a lot of the 'subjects' they supposedly had only exist if you bring it up to the teacher yourself. I think that the only redeeming quality about the school was the very dedicated teacher at the time, who was very knowledgable, pushed his students to do better, and clearly loved art. Two out of three of the people who run the school didn't seem to care very much about the students nor their experience at the school, which is probably why some students were unhappy with the structure of the school if they were studying there long-term. I'm not sure who the main art teacher is right now. This very tiny school is a good option if you want a very simple and basic experience in Florence and in the arts, because you do get a lot of freedom to just study whatever you feel like doing. In that case it's really nice, and a great option for people who want to learn art basics! Also, they'll provide very, very basic art supplies if you need them. However, I would not recommend staying there longer than 3 months at the most -- any more than that would be repetitive and the certificate in the fine arts that they offer doesn't seem to be very official. If you want a long-term study look into another school or even better, a university! So to summarize, good for less than three months of study, and think about what you want for your school experience.