Daily Archives: 27 May, 2016

Roman Amphitheater Ruins (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Roman Amphitheater Ruins

From the Medieval fortress atmosphere of the Palazzo Vecchio, we also ventured underground to the Roman amphitheatre ruins, the only complex of ancient Roman ruins that can be visited in Florence. Videos projected on the site’s walls illustrate the history of Palazzo Vecchio and the amphitheater. A reconstruction of the amphitheater in the Roman era and some related works are located in the Museo di Firenze com’era.

The ruins are located under the current Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Gondi, with the auditorium facing Piazza della Signoria and along the Piazza San Firenze and Via dei Leoni, between Piazza dei Peruzzi, Via De’ Bentaccordi and Via Torta.  Its remains are visible in Via De’ Bentaccordi.  Though still an active archaeological site, the ruins are open to the public.

In 1876, the first remains of the theater were excavated and, in 1935, other excavations took place in the underground at the Palazzo Vecchio. Archeological digs have resumed recently, notably in 2006-2007 by Italian archaeologist Riccardo Francovich.

The excavations, by the Archaeological Cooperative, under the scientific direction of Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Tuscany, also made it possible to bring back to light ruins of ancient thermal baths and other services related to an outdoor theater.

According to the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA), excavations at the Palazzo Vecchio have revealed stone corridors  and walls, the original painted stone pavements along which spectators used to walk from the outer circle of the theater to the orchestra pit, as well as wall foundations, and 10 m. (32.8 ft.) deep well shafts which provide water and waste disposal for the theater.

The remains of the theater cover a vast area of land and even include cells in which wild animals were confined before and after performances.

During the UNESCO World Forum on Culture and Cultural Industries, held in Florence from October 2 to 4, 2014, the Archaeological Cooperative formally announced their findings.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio”

When the amphitheater was built between 124 and 130 AD, it was located outside the walls of Florence and it marked the point of maximum expansion east.  A natural slope of about 5 m., at the southeastern part of the Roman colony of Florentia was used as foundation for the construction of the theater.

The excavations have allowed two construction phases of the theater to be identified. During the first phase, the stage, the orchestra and the first rows of seats were built in stone; while the rest of the cavea consisted of wooden bleachers for about 5,000 to 6000 spectators. This late-Imperial architecture follows the principles dictated by the famous Roman architect Vitruvius.

In the next phase of construction, between the first and second centuries AD, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, the entrance to the theater and the cavea were rebuilt in stone.

It had an elliptical shape, with a height between 24 and 26 m. and  a diameter of 126 m., and was around 100 m. long and roughly 35 m. wide at the scene.  The amphitheater also had a capacity of about 20,000 seats (compared to 87,000 in the Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome), demonstrating the demographic development of the city at the time.

During the Medieval period, it was incorporated into other buildings. Though it was not been systematically excavated, occasional discoveries have been made, such as in 1887.

It is possible to observe the radial corridors of masonry at the base of the semicircular Auditorium; and the vomitorium (the central corridor allowing access to the theater), the inner margin of the orchestra platform.

Roman Amphitheater Ruins: Florence, Italy. The excavations of the Roman Amphitheatre can be visited with a separate ticket, (4 Euro) or a combination ticket which includes the Palazzo Vecchio Museum and the Archaeological site.  It can also be visited, on request, with free one-hour guided tours, on Saturday and Sunday, 11 AM, 11:45 AM, 3:30 PM and 4:15 PM. Each group can be composed by a maximum of 20 people. For safety reasons, the excavations are not accessible to children under 8 years, while disabled people can access to it only partially and guided by a companion. E-mail: info@muse.comune.fi.it.

Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of the Elements (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — 1 Comment ↓

A pair of Roman busts at the Room of the Elements

The Apartments of the Elements, consisting of five rooms and two loggias, were the private quarters of Cosimo I.  Designed after Cosimo I de’ Medici had the palace extended, they were built under the direction of Giovanni Battista del Tasso from 1551 to 1555 but, on Tasso’s death, were altered almost at once when Giorgio Vasari, working for the first time as court architect and artist for Cosimo I and the Medicis, suggested raising their paneled ceilings.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio“

Room of Hercules – Bust of a Man (Roman, 3rd century)

With his assistants’ (Cristofano Gherardi and Marco Marchetti da Faenza) help, Vasari proceeded to decorate almost all of the rooms in a mere three years. A single, consistent iconographic program, devised by the scholar Cosimo Bartoli, links the decoration of the Apartments of the Elements with that of the Apartments of Leo X below them.

Ceiling of the Small Room between Room of Jupiter and Room of Hercules. In the center is a tortoise with a wind-filled sail on his back. This reminded Cosimo I to find the perfect balance between speed and patience. These sailing tortoises can be found all throughout the decoration of Palazzo Vecchio in many different forms, some are flying, some on the water, and some with angels. There are approximately 100 of them scattered across the ceilings, walls and floors of the palace.

Each one of the rooms is matched, on the floor below, by a room of the same size and dedicated to an illustrious member of the House of Medici.  In placing one set of frescoes above the other, it exalts the glory and virtue of the House of Medici (veritable “deities on earth”) by establishing a link between the dynasty’s rise to power and the origins of the “deities in heaven.”

Paneled ceiling at the Room of the Elements

The paintings in the rooms celebrate, as the beginning and end of all things, the genealogy of the “heavenly deities.” The cycle begins in the Room of the Elements, after which the apartments are named, with a depiction of the origins of the four elements (air, water, fire and earth) which sprung from the seed of Uranus scattered by Saturn.

The room perfectly reflects the proportions of the Room of Leo X immediately below it. Just as all things originate from the elements, so Pope Leo X laid the groundwork for the foundation of the Medici duchy of Tuscany.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of Leo X”

The oil painting on the ceiling panels are dedicated to Air while the frescoes on the three windowless walls celebrate Water, Fire and Earth.

The marble fireplace

The marble fireplace was designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati. The genealogy of the “heavenly deities” carries on in the other rooms dedicated to Opis, the goddess of prosperity and Saturn’s wife, and to Ceres and Jupiter, the two deities’ descendants.

The Room of Ceres, dedicated the daughter of Saturn and Opis and the goddess of agriculture, lies above the Room of Cosimo il Vecchio. Just as Ceres provided for man’s welfare by bestowing on him the fruits of the earth, so did Cosimo il Vecchio bring joy and prosperity to the city of Florence.

Room of Ceres and Study of Calliope

Decorated from 1555 to 1558, the room gets its name from the oil on wood motif (depicting Ceres seeking her daughter Proserpina after her abduction by Pluto, god of the Underworld) on the ceiling by Doceno (a pupil of Vasari) while on the walls are Florentine tapestries with hunting scenes, from cartoons by Stradanus.

The stained glass window, with the Toilet of Venus, was done by Walter of Antwerp to a design by Giorgio Vasari and Marco da Faenza.

Paneled ceiling at the Room of Ceres and Study of Calliope

Ceres

Originally, the adjacent Study of Calliope housed, either on shelves or in cabinets and cases, miniatures, small bronzes, medals and other rare and precious items from Duke Cosimo I’s collection.

Room of Jupiter

The Room of Jupiter, decorated from 1555 to 1556, lies immediately above the room of Cosimo I in a juxtaposition intended to celebrate the Medici duke’s glory and virtue by likening him to the heavenly deities.

Ceiling fresco showing the young Jupiter brought up by nymphs and suckled by the goat Amalthea

The ceiling fresco decoration shows the infancy of Jupiter (and father of all the gods), whom  Opis (Jupiter’s mother) had brought up in hiding.

Cabinet with Flowers and Birds (late 17th – early 18th century), ebony, inlaid with semi-precious stones and gilted bronze. On permanent loan from the State Art Galleries in Florence (1911)

To prevent Saturn (Jupiter’s father) from devouring him as he had all of his brothers, the young Jupiter is brought up by nymphs and suckled by the goat Amalthea which evokes Capricorn, the zodiac ascendant of Cosimo I. The walls are hung with Florentine tapestries made from cartoons by Stradano (16th century).

Walnut chest (16th century)

The Terrace of Saturn (closed in winter) as well as the fresco (the allegories of the Four Ages of man and the hours of the day allude to the god of Time) on the ceiling are dedicated to Saturn, god of Time, who devoured all his children (except for Jupiter, whose mother Opis used deception to save him) to ensure that they wouldn’t topple him from his throne.

Decorated from 1557 to 1566, it has a fabulous view of Florence, with the Piazzale Michelangelo and the Fortress Belvedere in the southeast. The remains of the Church of San Piero Scheraggio  are also visible. The two panels, with stories of Saturn, evoke episodes from the life of Pope Clement VII (Giulio de ‘Medici), to whom the room beneath is dedicated.  The adjacent Study of Minerva was designed to host the small marble statues in Duke Cosimo I’s collection.

Room of Hercules

At the Room of Hercules (Sala di Ercole), stories of Hercules (the son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmene who was endowed with superhuman strength) are the subject of paintings on the ceiling (The baby Hercules strangling the snakes Juno, Jupiter’s wife, had placed in his cradle) as well as the tapestries.

Paneled ceiling

Hercules’  countless celebrated heroic deeds, especially the “Twelve Labors,” have inspired the parallel with the room dedicated to valiant mercenary captain Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Duke Cosimo I’s father, which lies immediately beneath this room.  The room contains a polychrome Madonna and Child and a stipo, an ebony cabinet inlaid with semi-precious stones.

Stipo (cabinet with birds, flowers and fruit compositions, 1660-1680), ebony with marquetry and semi-precious stone inlay. On permanent loan from the State Art Galleries in Florence (1911)

The Terrace of Juno, dedicated to Juno (Jupiter’s wife), was originally an open loggia with columns.  The original design included the construction of a fountain emulating the monochrome painting on the wall, which appears to have been inspired, in its turn, by Andrea del Verrocchio‘s Putto with a Dolphin. It was designed to offer Eleonora of Toledo (Duke Cosimo’s wife) a view of the Santa Croce neighborhood.

Putto with Dolphin (Andrea del Verrocchio)

After the last wing of the palace was built, the loggia, which stood where the undecorated wall stands today, was walled up. The ceiling fresco depicts Juno on a carriage drawn by peacocks plus the Allegory of Abundance and the Allegory of Power.  The walls depicts Juno depriving Jupiter of his lover Io, whom he had disguised by turning her into a cow, Juno turning the nymph Callisto, beloved of Jupiter, into the constellation Ursa Minor and the Fountain with putto.

Room of Ceres and Study of Calliope – Walnut Table with Casket

The Room of Opis, named after the wife of Saturn and the goddess of prosperity, lies immediately above the Room of Lorenzo the Magnificent, whose diplomatic talents were acknowledged and appreciated by numerous monarchs just as Opis was worshipped by numerous peoples. In the center of the ceiling, the goddess appears surrounded by allegories of the seasons and of the months of the year, each shown with its matching star sign.The floor with ducal emblems are terracotta by Santi Buglioni.

Vase on Walnut Stand

The Room of Cybele has a ceiling painted with the Triumph of Cybele and the Four Season, a floor made in 1556 while against the walls are cabinets in tortoise shell and bronze. From the window, we can can see the third courtyard.

Apartments of the Elements: Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 276 8325. Open daily, 9 AM – 7 PM (except Thursdays, 9 AM  – 2 PM). Admission: €6.00. Combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci: €8.00.

Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of the Priors (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Audience Chamber – Magistrate’s Desk (ca. mid-16th century, walnut, on permanent loan from State Archives of Florence, 1918)

The Apartments of the Priors, like those making up the adjacent Apartments of Eleonora of Toledo, are situated in one of the oldest parts of the palace.  Built between the late 13th and early 14th centuries, it housed members of the body governing the Florentine Republic which, at the time, consisted of the eight elected priori or priors (two for each of the four quarters of Florence, they were all obliged to reside permanently in the palace for the duration of their two-month mandate), the Gonfalonier of Justice (Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, the “Standard Bearer of Justice”) who acted as the figurehead of the state, two advisory bodies, the Twelve Wise Men and the Sedici Gonfalonieri, and two legislative bodies, the Consiglio del Popolo and the Consiglio del Commune.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio“

Hall of the Lilies – Bronze Statue of Judith and Holofernes (Donatello)

Though their private quarters were renovated by Duke Cosimo I to become private chambers for his wife, Eleonora of Toledo, the public rooms now known as the Apartments of the Priors kept their more or less public character (Cosimo I de’ Medici simply had the walls of the Audience Chamber frescoed and a new room, currently the Hall of the Maps, built).

Audience Chamber

The Audience Chamber (Sala dell’Udienza) or Hall of Justice, containing the oldest decorations in the palace, was used to house the meetings of the six priori (guild masters of the arts) and granted audiences to subjects of Duke Cosimo I. Like the Hall of Lilies next door, it results from the partition of an existing hall as large as the whole of the Hall of the Two Hundred on the floor below.

It was split it into two separate chambers by a special wall, without real foundations, erected by Benedetto da Maiano between 1470 and 1472. Its carved coffer ceiling and frieze of painted wood, laminated with pure gold, was done, from 1470–1476, by Giuliano da Maiano (elder brother of Benedetto) and his assistants.

On his return from exile after his predecessor’s death, Duke Cosimo I had the walls frescoed, from 1543-1545, by Francesco de’ Rossi (also known as Francesco Salviati) with a decorative value representing Stories of Marcus Furius Camillus (a Roman general, mentioned in the writings of Plutarchus, who freed Rome from the Gaul in 390 BC). Since Salviati had his schooling in the circle around Raphael in Rome, these large frescoes are mirrored on Roman models and therefore not typical of Florentine art.

Carved coffer ceiling and frieze of painted wood

The marble door frame communicating with the Hall of Lilies, with the statue of Justice, was a marvel sculpted by brothers Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano from 1476-1480.  The door with marquetry portraits of Dante and Petrarch was also done, from 1476-1480, by Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano. Its inlaid woodwork (intarsia) was carved by Francesco di Giovanni (known as Del Francione ) based on a design by Sandro Botticelli.  The marble portal of the Chapel, with the Monogram of Christ, was based on a design by Baccio d’Agnolo (1529).

Chapel of the Priors

A small doorway leads into the adjoining small Chapel of the Signoria. In the 14th century, a chapel set aside for the Priors, dedicated to St. Bernard, was known to have existed but its precise original location is unknown. In 1511, at the time of the first Republic, Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini commissioned Baccio d’Agnolo to build the present chapel. In 1512, after the return of the Medici, building work continued.

The chapel contains a reliquary of St. Bernard. Here the priors, in the execution of their duties, used to supply divine aid. Thirty-two Latin inscriptions, from the Bible and Classical or early Christian writers, declaim the moral and religious principles that were supposed to guide the decisions of the government officials who gathered to pray here. Before he was hanged on the Piazza della Signoria and his body burned, Girolamo Savonarola said his last prayers in this chapel.

The dove of the Holy Spirit among the Apostles

On a background imitating gold mosaic, Ridolfo Bigordi (known as Ridolfo Ghirlandaio and son of the better known Domenico) decorated the on the walls and ceiling (its vaults echo the ceiling of Raphael’s Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican) of the chapel with marvelous frescoes featuring religious themes, scrolls, Florentine emblems and ornamental motifs.

The Holy Trinity and the Four Evangelists

The Holy Trinity, on the ceiling, and The Annunciation on the wall facing the altar, are of particular interest. The altar formerly had a painting (now on exhibition in the corridor of the Uffizi Gallery) representing the Holy Family by Mariano Graziadei da Pescia (a pupil of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio). Today, it has a good painting of St. Bernard by an unknown artist.

The chapel was also home to the archives and most precious objects in the Treasury of the Signoria.  Among its most treasured possessions, kept in the aumbry to the right of the altar, is the famous Digest of Justinian codex (533), which was removed from the city of Pisa, and a rare 9th century Greek evangelistary, as recorded by an inscription in the grille painted on the aumbry doors (now in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence).

Hall of Lilies

The Hall of the Lilies, like the Audience Chamber next door, also resulted from the partition of an existing hall into two separate chambers by Benedetto da Maiano between 1470 and 1472. The walls were intended to receive a cycle of Illustrious Men, models of civic virtue who were akin to the cycle that decorated the previous 14th century hall.

In 1482, the Signoria entrusted its decoration to Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Perugino, Biagio d’Antonio, Piero del Pollaiolo, some the greatest artists of the day, almost all of whom had recently returned from decorating the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

However, only Domenico Ghirlandaio completed the task and frescoed one of the walls (from 1482-1485) with the The Apotheosis of St. Zenobius (bishop and first patron saint and protector of Florence), depicting the saint between Saints Eugene and Crescentius and the Marzocco lion (the symbol of the city), and painted with a perspectival illusion of the background (where one can see the Cathedral, with Giotto’s original facade and bell tower). A bas-relief of the Madonna and Child can be found in the lunette above.

Carved coffer ceiling

This fresco is flanked, on both sides, by frescoes of famed Romans with Brutus, Gaius Mucius Scaevola and Camillus, on the left , and Decius, Scipio and Cicero on the right. Medallions of Roman emperors fill the spandrils between the sections. . The Statue of St. John the Baptist and Putti are all done by Benedetto da Maiano and his brother Giuliano.

The Angevin emblem, a fleur-de-lys (in gold leaf) on a blue ground surmounted by a red rake as a tribute to the French (longstanding defenders of Florentine freedom), by Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli in 1490, decorate the other three walls and the carved ceiling.  The door leading to the Audience Chamber, with the marquetry figures of poets Dante and Petrarch, are part of the unfinished project

Hall of Geographical Maps

The door in this wall, flanked by two dark marble pillars (originally from a Roman temple), leads to the Hall of Geographical Maps (Stanza della Guardaroba) or Wardrobe where the Medici Grand Dukes kept their precious belongings. In 1988, after its lengthy restoration, the (original) statue “Judith and Holofernes” by Donatello was given a prominent place in this room.

Model of the Pinnacle on the Tower

The cabinets and carved ceiling were done by Dionigi Nigetti. The cabinet doors are decorated with 53 remarkable maps, of scientific interest, and oil paintings by Fra Ignazio Danti (1563–1575), brother of the sculptor Vincenzo Danti and Dominican monk who followed the Ptolemaic system, while already using the new cartographical system of Gerardus Mercator, and Stefano Buonsignori (1575–1584). Of great historical interest, they give a good idea of the geographical knowledge in the 16th century. In the center of the room is the mappa mundi, a large globe ruined by excessive restorations.

The Old Chancellery, part of a section of the palace built in 1511 (at the time of Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini)  to link the building’s 14th century core with the Great Council Room (now Great Hall of the Five Hundred ), was erected towards the end of the 15th century.  During the time of Duke Cosimo de’ Medici and his successors, it became one of the rooms of the Wardrobe which housed the ruling family’s moveable possessions. The room is entered via a two-light window, set in the east wall of the Hall of Lilies, which formerly overlooked the Dogana (“Customs Courtyard”).

Old Chancellery

Originally having windows down both of its long sides, the room housed the office of the First Chancellor of the Republic, a figure who worked alongside the Gonfaloniere in running the palace. In 1511, the office was held by humanist Marcello Virglio Adriani. It was also the office of the great statesman and scholar Niccolo Machiavelli (author of such celebrated works as The Prince, the Mandragola and The Art of War) when he was Secretary of the Second Chancellery.  His polychrome terracotta bust, probably modeled on his death mask donated by collector Charles Loeser, and his portrait are by Santi di Tito, placed here in the last century to recall the room’s original function. On the pedestal in the center of the room is the famous Winged Boy with a Dolphin by Verrocchio, brought to this room from the First Courtyard.

The reassembled Study Room, used by Cellini to restore the treasures of the Medici princes, was where, from the little window in the wall, Cosimo I spied on his ministers and officers, during meetings in the Salone dei Cinquecento. It later became a museum of Mannerist paintings.

Apartments of the Priors: Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 276 8325. Open daily, 9 AM – 7 PM (except Thursdays, 9 AM  – 2 PM). Admission: €6.00. Combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci: €8.00.

Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of Eleonora (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Private Chapel of Eleonora of Toledo – Deposition of Christ (Bronzino, oil on wood)

The Apartments of Eleonora, part of the original core of the building, was erected between the late 13th and mid-14th centuries. For two centuries, they housed the private apartments of the members of the medieval city government, the Guild Priors and the Gonfalonier of Justice, who resided in isolation in the palace for the duration of their mandate.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio“

Room of Esther. On the upper right is a copy of the oil on panel painting “Battle of Anghiari” done by an unknown artist (after Leonardo da Vinci, 1505-1563?). It is on permanent loan from the State Art Galleries of Florence (1930)

In 1540, when Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici moved his court into the palace, he assigned these apartments to his wife Eleonora di Toledo (the daughter of Don Pedro de Toledo, viceroy of Naples) whom he had married the year before. All the members of the duke’s family had their private rooms in this wing of the building. Cosimo’s rooms were on the first floor while the children’s rooms were located above Eleonora’s apartments.

Cabinet with Mythological Themes

Under the direction of Battista del Tasso, work began at once on converting the apartments into the duchess’s private rooms and it included the construction of the famous private chapel frescoed by Agnolo di Cosimo (known as  Agnolo Bronzino). From 1561 to 1562, building continued under the artist Giorgio Vasari and his assistants, raising almost all the ceilings and decorating them in honor of Eleonora di Toledo with stories of classical heroines celebrated for “equalling men’s virtue,” when not actually surpassing it. The duchess lived barely long enough to see the work completed, dying of malaria in December 1562. The oil on wood paintings are by Giorgio Vasari and Giovanni Stradano while the gilded stucco and wood frames are by Battista Botticelli.

Green Room/Eleonora’s Study

The Green Room (Sala Verde), so-called because of the now lost (they have been replaced by a standard green hue) landscape paintings that once adorned its walls, was the first in a series of rooms which Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici decided to restructure when he moved into the palazzo. However, the grotesque decoration in the vault, based on Classical models and remarkable for the presence of numerous parrots and other species of birds, has survived. The room is thought to have originally resembled a kind of trompe l’oeil loggia.

Ceiling fresco at Green Room/Eleonora’s Study

Built between 1539 and 1540, it has decorations on the ceiling and walls by Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (1540-1542), the painter responsible for decorating the Chapel of the Priors in the Palazzo some 30 years earlier.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of the Priors“

Set into the long wall of the Green Room is Eleonora’s Study, a small room thought have been used as a study or writing room. After he had finished decorating in fresco the walls of the Audience Chamber in the adjacent Apartments of the Priors, Francesco Salviati decorated the ceiling with grotesque work and with small mythological scenes of Roman inspiration (ca. 1545-1548).

The Private Chamber of Eleanora was one of the private rooms of Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de’ Medici. The paintings are by the Flemish painter Jan Stradan (better known under his Italian name Giovanni Stradano) while against the wall is a cabinet with Florentine mosaic designs. Originally called the “Room of Gualdrada,” the ceiling painting depicts Gualdrada refusing to kiss Emperor Otto IV, an episode that extols the virtues of purity and modesty.

According to tradition, Gualdrada, a beautiful Florentine girl who lived in the 12th century and whom Dante mentions in the Divine Comedy, disobeyed her father’s command to allow Emperor Otto IV, who was visiting Florence, to kiss her. She objected that she would only allow her future husband to do so.

The ceiling painting is also an allegory that alludes to the independence of the city of Florence. The bond between Gualdrada and Florence is highlighted by the decoration in the frieze showing views of the city and its traditional festivities.

Private Chapel of Eleonora of Toledo

The adjoining, richly decorated private chapel of the Duchess Eleonora of Toledo, on the right, was built by walling off the first bay of an existing room (1539-1540).  It was frescoed by Mannerist Agnolo Bronzino at intervals between 1540 and 1565.

Miracle of Spring and The Gathering of Manna

One of the loftiest masterpieces of Florentine Mannerism, it celebrates the Medici dynasty in a complex iconographical program built around the Eucharist (in other words, Christ who died to save mankind). The frescoes in the vault refer to the Apocalypse.

Crossing of the Red Sea (Bronzino)

Another of Bronzino’s other masterpieces included Crossing the Red Sea.  The room’s small door indicates the beginning of the Vasari corridor, a passageway to the Palazzo Pitti built by Vasari for Cosimo I.

The dialogue between the altarpiece, with its Deposition, and the three walls, with their stories of Moses, presaging Christ’s sacrifice and the mystery of the Eucharist, points to the link between the Old and New Testaments. Over time (1545-1564), Agnolo Bronzino himself changed the three oil-on-panel paintings on the back wall with a large Pietà.

The present Deposition replaced an earlier, almost identical version which Cosimo gave to Emperor Charles V’s secretary (Besançon, Musée des Beaux-Arts); the panels with the Annunciation replaced a St John the Baptist (Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum) and a St Cosmas (fragment in a private collection).

Miracle of the Brazen Serpent

The ceiling frescoes features a head with three faces (symbolizing the Holy Trinity), St Michael the Archangel defeating the Devil, St John the Evangelist, St Jerome Penitent, St Francis receiving the stigmata, and the Cardinal virtues.

The Room of the Sabines, so named because of the ceiling decoration was, at one time, used for the ladies-in-waiting at the court of Eleonora di Toledo. It contains Portraits of Medici Princes (a painting by Justus Sustermans), statues by a Florentine art school and a tapestry by Fevère.

Latin historian Livy tells us that, after founding Rome, King Romulus deceitfully abducted the womenfolk of the neighboring Sabine tribes and brought them to his new city. The Sabines declared war on Rome, but their women, led by Ersilia (who had married Romulus), averted the clash between the two peoples by entering the fray and calling for peace.

Paneled ceiling of the Room of the Sabines

The episode, depicted in the center of the ceiling, celebrates the womanly virtue of mediation and features the Sabine women making peace between their own people and the Romans.

The Room of Esther celebrates Eleonora of Toledo in her role as duchess.  It’s ceiling depicts Esther begging Ahasuerus to halt the massacre of the Jews.

 

According to the Biblical book of Esther, after he repudiated Vashti, Persian King Ahasuerus chose Esther, a young Jewish girl of rare beauty, for his wife.  On the advice of his aide Haman, Ahasuerus ordered the Jews’ destruction, unaware that his new wife was a Jewess. By interceding with her husband, Esther saved her people. The decoration of the room

Esther begging Ahasuerus to halt the massacre of the Jews

The Dining Room, containing a lavabo and two tapestries by Van Assel representing Spring and Autumn, has a ceiling with the Coronation of Esther, decorated by Stradano, with an inscription in honor of Eleonora di Toledo.

Room of Penelope

The Room of Penelope has a ceiling depicting Penelope at the Loom surrounded by River Gods in the center, celebrating marital fidelity and extolling the role of the woman who attends to matters at home while her husband is away at war.

In the Odyssey, the poet Homer tells us that during the long voyage of Ulysses (also called Odysseus), king of Ithaca, his wife Penelope managed to avoid remarrying by postponing her choice of suitor until she had finished a piece of cloth which she wove during the day and secretly unraveled at night.

Penelope at the loom, surrounded by river gods

The frieze shows the adventures of Ulysses on his way home from the Trojan War, listed here in the order in which Homer tells them. The Madonna and Child and a Madonna and Child with St. John by Botticelli are on the walls.

The Madonna and Child and a Madonna and Child with St. John (Sandro Botticelli)

Apartments of Eleonora: Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 276 8325. Open daily, 9 AM – 7 PM (except Thursdays, 9 AM  – 2 PM). Admission: €6.00. Combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci: €8.00.

Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of Leo X (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Ceiling fresco at the Room of Cosimo il Vecchio

The Apartments of Leo X, situated in an extension of the building erected in the mid-16th century on the orders of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, was designed and built by Giovanni Battista del Tasso, who partly demolished and partly incorporated the 13th and 14th century offices of the Captain and Executor of the Ordinances of Justice in his work.

Room of Cosimo il Vecchio

Upon the death of Tasso in 1555, his place was taken over by Giorgio Vasari. In accordance with a single, consistent iconographic program devised by the scholar Cosimo Bartoli, Vasari  worked simultaneously both on these rooms and on decorating the apartments on the floor above.

Room of Lorenzo the Magnificent

The decoration on each one of the rooms in these apartments, dedicated to an illustrious member of the Medici family (Cosimo il Vecchio, Lorenzo the Magnificent, mercenary captain Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Pope Clement VII, Cosimo I de Medici and Pope Leo X, after whom the apartments are named), depicts their most significant endeavors.

Triumphant Return of Cosimo il Vecchio (Giorio Vasari and collaborators, 1556-58)

In accordance with a specific program designed to compare the rise to power of the House of Medici (veritable “deities on earth” with the origins of the genealogy of the “deities in heaven”), each one of the rooms is matched in the Apartments of the Elements on the floor above by a room of the same size dedicated to a pagan deity.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of the Elements“

Stucco work, designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati, was implemented by Leonardo Ricciarelli, Giovanni di Tommaso Boscoli and Mariotto di Francesco. The paintings and frescoes were done by Giorgio Vasari and his assistants Marco Marchetti, Cristofano Gherardi and Giovanni Stradano.

Room of Lorenzo the Magnificent

Because they are normally set aside for use as the offices of the Mayor of Florence, some of the rooms in this area are only open to visitors on special occasions but, surprisingly, they were open during our visit, possibly because we visited after office hours.

Room of Cosimo il Vecchio

The Room of Cosimo il Vecchio houses paintings that depict some of the more salient moments and aspects of his success of Cosimo il Vecchio (1389-1464), founder of the main branch of the Medici family.

Lorenzo the Magnificent receiving tribute from the Italian and foreign ambassadors, with many precious and exotic gifts

He steered, de facto, the political and economic rise of the city of Florence and laying the groundwork for future Medici power, earning the sobriquet of Pater Patriae (“Father of the Nation”).

Lorenzo the Magnificent among Philosophers and Scholars (Giorio Vasari and collaborators, 1556-58)

Depictions include his triumphant return to Florence (barely a year after being forced into exile by his adversaries) or his role as patron and protector of artists and scholars who also commissioned several majors architectural projects.

Departure of Cosimo il Vecchio for exile (Giogio Vasari and collaborators, 1556-58). This was the sentence laid down in 1433 by his enemies, who accused him of plotting against the Republic.

The ceiling fresco depicts Cosimo and his entourage’s return from exile, greeted in triumph by the city fathers outside the San Gallo Gate (1434).

Room of Lorenzo the Magnificent

The Room of Lorenzo the Magnificent, has a ceiling fresco, done by Giorgio Vasari and Marco Marchetti, with the symbolic depiction of the ambassadors of the most powerful foreign states paying tribute to Lorenzo.

The gifts laid before him include the cardinal’s hat which the pope granted to his son Giovanni, the future Pope Leo X.

Lorenzo de ‘Medici (1449-1492), the son of Piero the Gouty and grandson of Cosimo il Vecchio, was called The Magnificent on account of his exceptional intellectual prowess with which he shaped the era. Patron of the Platonic Academy, author of poetry and prose in the vernacular tongue, sophisticated collector and protector of artists of the caliber of Michelangelo Buonarroti, he influenced the tastes of his age, fostering the development and spread of the Humanist movement of the Florentine Renaissance.

He continued the work begun by his predecessors, monopolizing and consolidating political and economic control over Florence, whilst retaining, at least formally, the institutions of the Florentine republic. Believing that a balance among Italy’s states would keep foreign interference at bay, he enhanced his reputation by promoting peace agreements and alliances.

Paneled ceiling at Room of Lorenzo the Magnificent

The Room of Leo X has a ceiling fresco that depicts Pope Leo X‘s allies retaking Milan (1521).

Room of Leo X

Giovanni de’ Medici (1475-1521), Lorenzo the Magnificent’s son, became cardinal at the age of only thirteen and took the name of Leo X when he was elected to the papacy in 1513.  He laid the groundwork for the future Medici duchy of Tuscany and his expansionist drive allowed the Medici to acquire new honors, such as the Duchy of Urbino.

Educated in the cultured and sophisticated circles of his Magnificent father, he imbued the papal court with pomp and splendor, pursuing his predecessor Julius II’s patronage policy to turn Rome into the leading cultural and artistic centre of the early decades of the 16th century.

Triumphant Entrance of Leo X in Florence (Giorgio Vasari)

Apartments of Leo X: Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 276 8325. Open daily, 9 AM – 7 PM (except Thursdays, 9 AM  – 2 PM). Admission: €6.00. Combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci: €8.00.

Palazzo Vecchio – Hall of the Five Hundred (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Hall of the Five Hundred

Located on the first floor of the building, adjacent to the oldest section built by Arnolfo di Cambio, the Hall of the Five Hundred (Salone dei Cinquecento) is part of the wing of the palace built in 1494 by Simone del Pollaiolo and Francesco Domenico.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio“

The author

It was commissioned by Fra Girolamo Savonarola (the spiritual leader of the Republic, who replaced the Medici) to build chamber as the seat of the 500-member Grand Council (Consiglio Maggiore), modeled after the Grand Council of Venice. According to the austerity pursued by Savonarola, the room was also very basic and almost devoid of decoration.

For a short period (1494 and 1498), Savonarola had ousted the Medici from power and had founded a new Florentine Republic, establishing a more democratic government for the city of Florence by creating the Council of Five Hundred (or Great Council). In this way, the decision-making power belonged to a greater number of citizens, making it more difficult for a single person to take control of the city. In 1498, Savonarola was arrested, hanged and burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria as a “heretic, schismatic, and for preaching new things.”

Paintings and sculptures on west side

Here are some interesting trivia regarding the impressive Hall of the Five Hundred:

  • In terms of artistic and historic value in Palazzo Vecchio, it is the largest and most important room.
  • At 54 m. long, 23 m. wide and 18 m. high, the hall is the largest room in Italy made for a civil power palace.
  • It plays a key role in Dan Brown’s 2013 thriller Inferno

Paintings and sculptures on the east side

In 1540, after the Medici returned to power, they chose Palazzo Vecchio as a residence, radically transforming it. Piero Soderini, who was appointed Gonfaloniere for life, decided to decorate the Salone dei Cinquecento.

Maximilian of Austria Attempts the Conquest of Leghorn (Giorgio Vasari and Giovanni Battista Naldini) – depicts the moment that Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian comes to the aid of the Pisans, but, alas, the Emperor’s attack on the Florentines failed, in part due to a terrible storm that shipwrecked the imperial fleet, forcing the imperial forces to withdraw.

The Conquest of Porto Ercole (Giorgio Vasari) – depicts the capture of Porto Ercole, Siena’s last holdout. Those who had been loyal to Siena fled to Porto Ercole after Siena had fallen on April 21, 1555. However, after a 24-day siege, the final bastion of Sienese independence fell.

So that Grand Duke Cosimo I de Medici could hold his court in this chamber, received ambassadors and give audience to the people, the grandeur of the hall had to be accentuated and the decorations had to exalt and glorify the Medici family hall. Giorgio Vasari enlarged the hall by raising the ceiling seven meters,

Defeat of the Pisans at the Torre di San Vicenzo in 1505

The ingeniously built trusses were a double set at different levels with a truss supporting the weight of the roof and another one supporting the beautifully decorated coffered ceiling underneath which covered the truss structure.  Aside from Vasari, other artists who participated in the decoration were Giovanni Stradano, Tommaso di Battista del Verrocchio, Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, and many others.

The Storming of the Fortress of Stampace (Giorgio Vasari, Giovanni Battista Naldini, and Jacopo Zucchi)

The ceiling, consisting of 39 panels, was constructed and painted by a team of painters coordinated by Giorgio Vasari.  The iconographic subject, treated by Vincenzo Borghini, was originally sketched with an allegory of Florence occupying the center but Duke Cosimo actually wanted a glorious depiction of himself.

The Taking of Siena – depicts the capture of the fort near the Porta Camollia. The January 26, 1554 attack on Siena, by the ducal army, was led by Giangiacomo Medici (Marquis of Marignano)e). Here, they surprised the guards while they slept. The Florentines marked this event as the beginning of the war.

It now represents Great Episodes from the life of Cosimo I with some allegories of the districts of Florence and Tuscany in an act of submission to the Duke, episodes of the War of Pisa (1496–1509) and the War of Siena (1553–1555), as well as portraits of some of Giorgio Vasari’s collaborators. Towards the center is the apotheosis Scene of His Glorification as Grand Duke of Florence and Tuscany.

The Victory of Cosimo I at the Battle of Marciano in Val di Chiana – depicts the August 2, 1554 battle in Val di Chiana, which was decisive for the Florentines’ victory the next spring. Here, Florentine exiles, who had fled the Medici rule and sided with Siena, Frenchmen, and Grisons attacked the Florentine army, but the Florentines routed the Sienese troops.

Giorgio Vasari, along with his assistants, painted large and expansive frescoes depicting six scenes of battles and military victories that represent the military successes of Cosimo I and Florence over Pisa and Siena.  On the east side, you can find The Taking of Siena, The Conquest of Porto Ercole, and The Victory of Cosimo I at the Battle of Marciano in Val di Chiana.

Statue of Hercules and Cacus (Vincenzo de’ Rossi)

On the west side are The Defeat of the Pisans at the Tower of San Vincenzo, Maximilian of Austria Attempts the Conquest of Leghorn and Pisa Attacked by the Florentine Troops. The decorative complex would be completed by a series of sixteenth-century tapestries, which are hung only on special occasions.

Statue of Hercules and Diomedes (Vincenzo de Rossi)

However, during this transformation, two famous (but unfinished) large murals, celebrating the victories of the Republic, by the greatest Florentine artists of the time were lost – the Battle of Anghiari (a battle scene celebrating a famous Florentine victory, commissioned to Leonardo da Vinci in 1503), on one long wall, and the  Battle of Cascina (by Michelangelo) on the opposite wall.

For a certain period of time, though none of their work was ever completed, the two geniuses of the Renaissance would have an opportunity to work face-to-face. Leonardo hopelessly wasting the work by experimenting with an encaustic technique, which proved disastrous. On the other hand, Michelangelo stopped work when he left for Rome after being called by Pope Julius II. Both original works are lost, but copies and preparatory drawings still remain.

Statue of Hercules and Hippolyta (Vincenzo de’ Rossi)

The La Tribuna dell’Udienza (consultation gallery), the raised stage designed to accommodate the throne of the Duke, is illuminated by enormous windows on the north side of the hall.

La Tribuna dell’Udienza (consultation gallery)

It was built by Giuliano di Baccio d’Agnolo and Bartolommeo Bandinelli for Cosimo I to receive citizens and ambassadors.

Statue of Hercules and the Centaur Nessus (Vincenzo De Rossi)

Above it are frescoes depicting historical events. Among these are that of Boniface VIII receiving the ambassadors of foreign states and, seeing that all were Florentines, saying “You Florentines are the quintessence.”

Statue of Hercules with the Erymanthean Boar (Vincenzo De Rossi)

The architecture, inspired by a Roman triumphal arch to enhance the power of the sovereign, hosts a number of niches containing statues of members of the Medici family, sculpted by Bartolommeo Bandinelli, in the niches.

Statue of Pope Leo X in the act of blessing Cosimo de Medici

The two largest arches contain the statues of the two Medici popes – the statue of the Seated Leo X (Bandinelli was assisted here by his student Vincenzo de’Rossi) in the center and, on the right, a statue of Charles V, King of Spain, Crowned by Clement VII. Six statues, along the walls, represent the Labors of Hercules by Vincenzo de’ Rossi.

Statue of The Labours of Hercules

At the south of the hall, in the central niche, is The Genius of Victory (1533–1534), Michelangelo’s famous marble group that was originally intended for the tomb of Julius II. Placed in this hall by Giorgio Vasari, the statue was removed to the Bargello Museum in 1868 but, in 1921, was returned to the hall. The statues of other members of the Medici family (Cosimo I, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, Alessandro, and Francesco I) are contained in the other four niches while, in the boxes above, are depicted the main enterprises conducted by them.

Check out “Bargello Museum”

The Genius of Victory (Michaelangelo)

Access to the Studiolo of Francesco I is along the side of the entrance wall. The Studiolo of Francesco I (a studiolo is a small study), a small side room, without windows, situated at the end of the hall, was also designed by Giorgio Vasari (1570–1575) in a Mannerist style. Paintings, stucco and sculptures fill the walls and the barrel vault and Baroque paintings hide secret cupboards.

Coffer ceiling

Most paintings, representing the four elements (water, fire, earth and air), are by the School of Vasari. The portrait of Cosimo I and his wife Eleonora of Toledo was made by Bronzino while the delicate bronze sculptures were made by Bartolomeo Ammanati and  Giambologna. The latter, dismantled within decades of its construction, were re-assembled in the 20th century.

Palazzo Vecchio: Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 276 8325. Open daily, 9 AM – 7 PM (except Thursdays, 9 AM  – 2 PM). Admission: €6.00. Combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci: €8.00.

Loggia dei Lanzi (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Loggia dei Lanzi

The Loggia dei Lanzi (also called the Loggia della Signoria or Loggia dei Priori), an open-air sculpture gallery on a corner of the Piazza della Signoria, adjoining the Uffizi Gallery, is sometimes erroneously referred to as Loggia dell’ Orcagna because it was once thought to be designed by that artist.  Open to the street, it consists of wide arches (which seem to have influenced Filippo Brunelleschi when he planned the famous loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, the first Renaissance building) resting on clustered pilasters with Corinthian capitals.  Appealing so much to the Florentines, Michelangelo proposed that the wide arches be continued all around the Piazza della Signoria.

Check out “Uffizi Gallery”

The Loggia during daytime

It was built, between 1376 and 1382, by Benci di Cione and Simone di Francesco Talenti (also well known from his contributions to the churches Orsanmichele and San Carlo), possibly following a design by Jacopo di Sione, to house the assemblies of the people and hold public ceremonies (such as the swearing into office of the Gonfaloniere and the Priors).

Check out “Orsanmichele Church“

Nighttime view of the Loggia

After the construction of the Uffizi, at the rear of the Loggia, the Loggia’s roof was modified into a roof garden by Bernardo Buontalenti, turning it into an elegant terrace (now the Uffizi Café Terrace) from which the Medici princes could watch ceremonies in the piazza. The Loggia became an expression of the Medici family power since the sixteenth century, at the time of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In fact, the sculptures, were chosen, not just according to aesthetic criteria, but also to affirm and represent specific political meaning.

The array of statues inside the Loggia

The vivacious Loggia, effectively an open-air sculpture gallery of antique and Renaissance art, stands in stark contrast with the severe architecture of the Palazzo Vecchio. Its name dates back to the reign of Grand Duke Cosimo I, when it was used to house his formidable landsknechts (German mercenary pikemen). In Italian landsknechts is translated as lanzichenecchi, which was corrupted to Lanzi.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio“

Trefoils, on the façade of the Loggia, below the parapet, have allegorical figures of the four cardinal virtues (Fortitude, Temperance, Justice and Prudence) by Agnolo Gaddi. Their blue enameled background is the work of Leonardo (a monk), the golden stars were painted by Lorenzo di Bicci while the vault, composed of semicircles, was done by the Florentine Antonio de’ Pucci.

The Medici Lions

On the steps of the Loggia are two Marzoccos, marble statues of lions (called the Medici lions as they originally in the Villa Medici in Rome) which are heraldic symbols of Florence.  That on the right is from Roman times while the one on the left was sculpted by Flaminio Vacca in 1598. Originally placed in the Villa Medici in Rome, they were transferred to the Loggia in 1789.

Statue of a Sabine Woman

On the Loggia’s right wall there’s a Latin inscription, from 1750, commemorating the change of the Florentine calendar (the Florentine calendar used to begin on March 25 instead of January 1 but, since 1749, it started following the standards of the Roman calendar).  A 1893 inscription records the Florentines who distinguished themselves during the annexation of Milan  (1865), Venice  (1866) and Rome (1871) to the kingdom of Italy.

Perseus with the Head of Medusa (Benvenuto Cellini)

Underneath the bay, on the far left, is the bronze statue (also known as Cellini’s Persus) of Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini who worked almost ten years on this bronze (1545-1554). Considered a masterpiece of Italian Mannerism, it shows the mythical Greek hero Perseus, with his well-proportioned muscular body, standing poised on the right leg while brandishing his sword in his right hand and triumphantly holding up the severed head of the dead Medusa (the second face on the back of his head, with a curly beard and a long thin nose is, in fact, a self- portrait of Cellini himself), blood gushing from the head and the neck, in his left. The reflecting Perseus seems to be frightened by his action.

The richly decorated marble pedestal, showing four graceful bronze statuettes, an example of Cellini’s unparalleled talent when working on smaller pieces (due to the fact that he was also an expert goldsmith), of Jupiter, Mercurius, Minerva and Danaë, was also done by Cellini. The bas-relief on the pedestal, representing Perseus freeing Andromeda, is a copy of the original in the Bargello Museum.

Check out “Bargello Museum“

The Rape of the Sabine Women

On the far right is the impressive Manneristic group Rape of the Sabine Women (the first group representing more than a single figure in European sculptural history to be conceived without a dominant viewpoint), made from one imperfect block of white marble (the largest block ever transported to Florence by), was installed in the Loggia in 1583 at the behest of Francesco I de’ Medici, the son of Cosimo I.

This over 4 m. high, marble and bronze group was done by the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne (better known by his Italianized name Giambologna), who wanted to create a composition with the figura serpentina (an upward snakelike spiral movement to be examined or equally admired from all sides). The goccia (chalk copy) model is now in the Gallerie dell‘Accademia. The marble pedestal, representing bronze bas-reliefs with the same theme, was also done by Giambologna. In recent years, the statue has gone through a series of renovation sessions to protect it from deterioration due to pollution.

Check out “Gallerie dell’Accademia“

Rape of Polyxena (Pio Fedi)

The Rape of Polyxena is a fine diagonal sculpture group done in the Romantic style by Pio Fedi from 1865.

Hercules beating the Centaur Nesso (Giambologna)

Nearby is Hercules Beating the Centaur Nesso, Giambologna’s less celebrated marble sculpture, sculpted in 1599 from one solid block of white marble, with the help of Pietro Francavilla, and commissioned to Giambologna by Grand Duke Ferdinand I around 1594.  It was placed here in 1841 from the crossroads in Canto de’ Carnesecchi.

Menelaus bearing the corpse of Patroclus. Flavian Era (1st century CE)

The ancient marble group Menelaus supporting the body of Patroclus, discovered in Rome and brought to Florence by Cosimo I,  is a Roman sculpture from the Flavian era, copied from a Hellenistic Pergamene original of the mid third century BC.  Originally standing at the southern end of the Ponte Vecchio, another version of this much-restored Roman marble is in the Palazzo Pitti. It has undergone many unskillful restorations in 1640 (by Ludovico Salvetti, to a model by Pietro Tacca) and about 1830 (by Stefano Ricci).

Statue of Matidia

On the back of the Loggia are five marble female statues of Sabines  (three are identified as Matidia, Marciana and Agrippina Minor) and a statue of a barbarian prisoner Thusnelda from Roman times from the era of Trajan to Hadrian. Discovered in Trajan’s Foro in Rome in 1541, the statues had, since 1584, been in the Villa Medici in Rome and were brought here in 1789 by Pietro Leopoldo. They all have had significant, modern restorations.

Statue of Ulpia Marciana (110-120 CE)

The Feldherrnhalle in Munich, commissioned by King Ludwig I of Bavaria to honor the tradition of his military, was modeled after the Loggia.

Statue of a Sabine Woman

Loggia dei Lanzi: Piazza della Signoria, 50122 Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 23885. Admission: free.

Palazzo Vecchio (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of Florence, overlooks the Piazza della Signoria.  Its entrance is flanked by a copy of Michelangelo‘s David statue (erected in 1910, the original once stood at the entrance from its completion in 1504 to 1873, when it was moved to the Accademia Gallery) and Baccio Bandinelli‘s statue of Hercules and Cacus.

Check out “Gallerie dell’Accademia”

Palazzo Vecchio entrance

Originally called the Palazzo della Signoria (after the Signoria of Florence, the ruling body of the Republic of Florence), it was, in accordance with the varying use of the palace during its long history, also called the Palazzo del Popolo, Palazzo dei Priori and Palazzo Ducale. After the Medici duke’s residence was moved, across the Arno River, to the Palazzo Pitti, the building acquired its current name.

Copy of Michaelangelo’s David

When Cosimo later removed to Palazzo Pitti, he officially renamed the Palazzo della Signoria, his former palace, to the Palazzo Vecchio (“Old Palace”), although the adjacent town square, the Piazza della Signoria, still bears the original name.  Although most of it is now a museum, the Palazzo Vecchio remains as the symbol and center of local government.

Hercules and Cacus (Baccio Bandinelli)

Here is the historical timeline of the palace:

  • In 1299,the Florentine commune and people decided to build a palace that would be worthy of the Florence’s importance and, in times of turbulence, would be more secure and defensible for the magistrates of the commune. Construction was begun by Arnolfo di Cambio (the architect of the Duomo and the Santa Croce church) upon the ruins of Palazzo dei Fanti and Palazzo dell’Esecutore di Giustizia once owned by the Uberti family.
  • In 1353, the clock of the Torre d’Arnolfo was constructed by the Florentine Nicolò Bernardo.
  • In the 15th century,Michelozzo Michelozzi added decorative bas-reliefs of the cross and the Florentine lily in the spandrels between the trefoil arches of the windows.
  • In 1494, the Salone dei Cinquecento chamber was built.
  • In May 1540, Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici (later to become grand duke) moved his official seat, from the Medici palazzo in Via Larga, to the Palazzo della Signoria, signaling the security of Medici power in Florence.
  • In 1565, the frescoes at the first courtyard were painted by Giorgio Vasari for the wedding celebration of Francesco I de’ Medici (the eldest son of Cosimo I de’ Medici) to Archduchess Johanna of Austria (sister of the Emperor Maximilian II).
  • Between 1555 and 1572, the surviving decorations were made by Giorgio Vasari and his helpers, among them Livio Agresti from Forlì. They mark the culmination of Mannerism and make this hall the showpiece of the palace.
  • In 1667, the tower clock was replaced with a replica made by Georg Lederle from the German town of Augsburg (Italians refer to him as Giorgio Lederle of Augusta) and installed by Vincenzo Viviani.
  • From 1865–71, at a moment when Florence had become the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Italy, the palace gained new importance as the seat of united Italy’s provisional government.
  • Since 1872, it has housed the office of the mayor of Florence and is the seat of the City Council.

Trefoil arched windows at the facade

The solid, massive and cubical building, made of solid rusticated stonework, has two rows of two-lighted Gothic windows, each with a trefoil arch, and is crowned with a projecting crenellated battlement supported by small arches (under which are a repeated series of nine painted coats of arms of the Florentine republic) and corbels.

The 9 Forentine coat-of-arms

Some of these arches are used as embrasures (spiombati) for dropping heated liquids or rocks on invaders.

Torre d’Arnolfo

The simple, 94 m. high rectangular Torre d’Arnolfo (named after its designer Arnolfo di Cambio) has a large, one-handed clock.

The tower clock

Arnolfo di Cambio incorporated the ancient tower (then known as La Vacca or “The Cow”) of the Foraboschi family into the new tower’s facade as its substructure (this is why the tower is not directly centered in the building). The tower currently has three bells, the oldest cast in the 13th century.

The view of Florence from the top of Torre d’Arnolfo

During our visit, we climbed the 418 steps to the top of the tower where we had 360 degree views of the city.  We entered via the museum. On our way up, we passed the “Little Hotel,” two small cells that, at different times, imprisoned Cosimo de’ Medici (the Elder) (1435) and Girolamo Savonarola (1498).

No more than 35 people can enter at once and, on busy days, you’ll be limited to 30 minutes. In bad weather, it’s closed.

The Vasari corridor, an above-ground walkway commissioned to Giorgio Vasari by Cosimo I, was built from the Palazzo Vecchio, through the Uffizi (where Cosimo I moved the seat of government), over the Ponte Vecchio to the Palazzo Pitti.

Check out “Palazzo Pitti – Vasari Corridor”

The Vasari Corridor

A notable ornamental marble frontispiece, above the front entrance door, dates from 1528. The Monogram of Christ, in the middle, is flanked by two gilded lions.  The text (in Latin) above, dating from 1851 (it does not replace an earlier text by Savonarola as mentioned in guidebooks), reads Rex Regum et Dominus Dominantium (“King of Kings and Lord of Lords”).

The ornamental marble frontispiece above the entrance door

Between 1529 and 1851, this text was concealed behind a large shield with the grand-ducal coat of arms.

The first courtyard

The first courtyard, designed in 1453 by Michelozzo, has harmoniously proportioned columns which, at one time, were smooth and untouched, were at the same time richly decorated with gilt stuccoes. High around the courtyard are lunettes with crests of the church and city guilds while frescoes on the walls are vedutes, some damaged over the course of time, of the cities (Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, Vienna, Hall in Tirol, Freiburg im Breisgau, Konstanz, etc.) of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy. The barrel vaults are furnished with grotesque decorations.

Barrel vaults, with grotesque decorations, at the first courtyard

In the center of the courtyard is a porphyry fountain by Battista del Tadda. On top of the fountain’s basin is the Putto with Dolphin, a copy of the original small statue by Andrea del Verrocchio (1476), originally placed in the garden of the Villa Medici at Careggi but now on display on the second floor of the palace. Flowing through the nose of the dolphin is water brought here by pipes from the Boboli Gardens.  In front of the fountain is a niche with Samson and Philistine by Pierino da Vinci.

Check out “Palazzo Pitti – Boboli Gardens”

The massive pillars, in the second courtyard (also called Dogana or “Customs Courtyard”), were built in 1494 by Cronaca to sustain the great, most imposing 52 m. (170 ft.) long and 23 m. (75 ft.) wide “Salone dei Cinquecento” on the second floor.

Grace (center) and Jandy (right) at the first courtyard

The massive and monumental stairs by Giorgio Vasari, between the first and second courtyard, lead up to the Hall of the Five Hundred (Salone dei Cinquecento).  The third courtyard was used mainly for offices of the city.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio – Hall of the Five Hundred”

The author at the Hall of the Five Hundred

The Studiolo of Francesco I (a studiolo is a small study), a small side room, without windows, situated at the end of the hall, was also designed by Giorgio Vasari (1570–1575) in a Mannerist style. Paintings, stucco and sculptures fill the walls and the barrel vault and Baroque paintings hide secret cupboards. Most paintings, representing the four elements (water, fire, earth and air), are by the School of Vasari. The portrait of Cosimo I and his wife Eleonora of Toledo was made by Bronzino while the delicate bronze sculptures were made by Bartolomeo Ammanati and  Giambologna. The latter, dismantled within decades of its construction, were re-assembled in the 20th century.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of the Priors” and Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of Leo X”

Normally, the Quartieri monumentali (Residence of the Priors and the Quarters of Leo X), the other rooms on the first floor, are not accessible to the public as they are used by the mayor as offices and reception rooms but, probably it was past office hours, it was opened during our visit.  A staircase, designed by Giorgio Vasari, led us to the second floor where we visited  the Chapel of Signoria, the Hall of Justice (Sala delle Udienze), the Room of the Lilies (Sala dei Gigli), the Study Room and the Apartments of the Elements (Sala degli Elementi).

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of the Elements,” and “Palazzo Vecchio – Apartments of Eleonora”  

Palazzo Vecchio: Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 276 8325. Open daily, 9 AM – 7 PM (except Thursdays, 9 AM  – 2 PM). Admission: €6.00. Combined ticket with Cappella Brancacci: €8.00

Orsanmichele Church (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Orsanmichele Church

Orsanmichele Church

The square Orsanmichele Church was constructed on the site of the now gone kitchen garden of the Benedictine monastery of San Michele (from the contraction of “Kitchen Garden of St. Michael” in Tuscan dialect of the Italian word orto.

orsanmichele-church-4

It was originally built in 1337 as a grain market  (chutes for the wheat are still to be seen inside the piers) by architects Simone di Francesco Talenti, Neri di Fioravante and Benci di Cione and finished in 1349. Between 1380 and 1404, the loggia was closed in and designed (by Francesco Talenti) and converted into a chapel of Florence’s powerful craft and trade guilds.

Incredulity of St. Thomas (Andrea del Verrocchio)

Incredulity of St. Thomas (Andrea del Verrocchio)

St. George (Donatello)

St. George (Donatello)

The lower level façade was embellished with 14 architecturally designed external niches (originally 13th-century arches that originally formed the loggia of the grain market) which were filled, from 1399 to around 1430, with statues of the guild’s patron saints. The statues of the three richest guilds were made in more costly bronze (approximately ten times the amount of the stone figures).

St. John the Baptist (Lorenzo Ghiberti)

St. John the Baptist (Lorenzo Ghiberti)

St. Luke (Giambologna)

St. Luke (Giambologna)

The tabernacles around the outside, from the foremost Florentine Renaissance artists of the 15th (Nanni di Banco, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Andrea del Verrocchio, Donatello) and 16th century (Giambologna), were assigned to the principal guilds (Arti Maggiori), the medium guilds (Mediane) and to the guild of the Armorers and Swordmakers.

St. Matthew (Lorenzo Ghiberti)

St. Matthew (Lorenzo Ghiberti)

Those guilds which did not have the privilege of an external tabernacle had their patron saint depicted in fresco or on panel inside the building. The most important tabernacle, in the center of the façade, facing Via de’ Calzaioli, was assigned first to the Parte Guelfa and then to the Tribunal of the Mercatanzia. The tabernacles are:

  • St. Peter by Donatello
  • St. Philip by Nanni di Banco
  • Four Crowned Saints group by Nanni di Banco
  • St. George (1417) by Donatello
  • St. Matthew by Lorenzo Ghiberti
  • St. Stephan by Lorenzo Ghiberti
  • St. Eligius by Nanni di Banco
  • St. Mark by Donatello
  • St. Jacob by Niccolò di Piero Lamberti (?)
  • Madonna della Rosa by Govanni di Piero Tedesco (?)
  • John the Evangelist by Baccio da Montelupo
  • St. Luke by Gianbologna
  • Incredulity of St. Thomas (1467-83) by Andrea del Verrocchio, replacing Louis of Toulouse (1433) by Donatello
  • St. John the Baptist by Lorenzo Ghiberti

The sculptures seen today are modern duplicates.  To protect them from the elements and vandalism, many of the original sculptures have been removed to the museum of Orsanmichele at the upper floor of the church.  Statues of  St. George (and its niche) and St. Louis of Toulouse, both works by Donatello, are in the Bargello Museum (moved in 1892) and in the Museum of Santa Croce of the Basilica di Santa Croce respectively.

Frescoes of saints on the pillars by Jacopo dal Casentino

Frescoes of saints on the pillars by Jacopo dal Casentino

frescoes-of-saints-on-the-pillars-by-jacopo-dal-casentino-2

The façade also has elegant mullioned windows, in the Late Gothic style, and stained glass by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini showing Scenes and miracles of the Virgin (1395-1405).

The Late Gothic interior

The Late Gothic interior

dsc09355

The almost intact but atmospherically gloomy Late Gothic interior, with its square layout and piers (their positioning recalls the arrangement of the original open loggia) features the monumental marble altar, with Virtues and scenes from the life of the Virgin in relief, not in the center but to the right.

Fresco painting on ceiling by Jacopo dal Casentino

Fresco painting on ceiling by Jacopo dal Casentino

The bejeweled Gothic tabernacle encases a repainting, by Bernardo Daddi, of an older icon of the Madonna and Child (1346), known as the Madonna delle Grazie.  It was commissioned in 1355, a year after the terrible plague, from Andrea Orcagna (Andrea di Cione), but not finished until 1359.

dsc09357

The Gothic tabernacle

To the left of the nave is the votive altar of St. Anne, built in 1379 by order of the Signoria, with a marble group of St. Anne, the Virgin and Child by Francesco da Sangallo (c. 1526). On the walls there are patchy traces of frescoes that depict the patron saints of the various guilds.

Altar of St. Anne

Altar of St. Anne

Orsanmichele Church: Via dell’Arte della Lana, corner with Via Calzaiouli 50122 Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 23885. Admission: free.  The Museum of the Orsanmichele (Museo di Orsanmichele), reached by the bridge from the adjacent Palazzo dell’Arte della Lana, is open every Monday.

Uffizi Gallery – Great Niobe Room (Florence, Italy)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Great Niobe Room

Among the rich collection of sculptures of the Uffizi Gallery, there is one room dedicated to a group of related sculptures – the Great Niobe’s Room (Sala della Niobe).  One of the most fascinating rooms in the Gallery, this room houses a group of 12 ancient Neo-Classical  marble sculptures (called the Uffizi Niobid group), Roman copies from an original Hellenistic work dating to the 2nd to 3rd century BC.

Statue of Niobe and her Youngest Daughter

In Greek mythology, Niobe, born of the royal house of Phrygia, the arrogant daughter of Tantalus and wife of  Amphion (the founder and ruler of Thebes), had 14 children (7 girls and 7 boys). She was so proud of her own offspring so much so that in the temple, Niobe demands the worshipers of the goddess Leto to worship her instead: “Why do you worship her, not me? My father is Tantalus, my mother is a goddess, my husband establishes and rules this city Thebes, and I have seven sons and seven daughters whereas Latona has only two children….” Manto, the seeress daughter of Tiresias, overheard Niobe’s remark and bid the Theban women placate Leto, in vain.

In his Iliad, Homer wrote about her arrogance and pride.  Leto, in a bid to punish Niobe’s pride, sent her two children,  Apollo and Artemis , to kill Niobe’s children. With bows and poisonous arrows, Artemis aimed to kill the females while Apollo was charged to kill the males. According to some versions, Artemis and Apollo killed them all while, according to others, Meliboea (Chloris) and Amyclas, managed to escape.

According to the Latin poet Ovid  in his “Metamorphoses,” that extreme terror drove Amphion to suicide and turned Niobe into a marble block.  Her tears of pain gave life to a source, on Mt. Sipylus in Lydia (Mansia, Turkey).

The clear educational purpose of the myth (warning against damages of pride) made it subject of many artistic and literary representations. The power of this ancient myth does not diminish through time and Niobe’s tragic story has inspired many artistic and literary representations through the periods such as the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, and by Dutch painters.

Henry IV’s Triumphal Entry into Paris (Peter Paul Rubens)

In 1583, a series of 12 famous surviving Greek sculptures, by anonymous sculptors, was found in the Vigna Tomasini vineyard, near Porta San Giovanni. Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici (the future Grand Duke of Tuscany) immediately bought these for his Roman villa.

“Dying Niobid” (or “”Lying Niobid”) is a marble statue of a recumbent male Niobid lying on a cloak (1st century AD, after a model of the 2nd half of the 4th century BC., Pentelic marble). Height 47.5 cm., width 45.5 cm., length (with restored parts) 177 cm.

Around 1770, the sculptures were brought to Florence and, in 1775, were brought to the Uffizi Gallery. From 1779 – 1780, at the peak of Neo-Classical period (when an important air of artistic renewal was breathed in Florence), Grand Duke Pietro Leopold of Lorraine commissioned the architect Gasparre Maria Paoletti to set up the specially built, 29 by 9 m., 260 sq. m. exhibition room where they are still displayed.

Statue of Eldest Daughter of Niobe

Running Niobid

On May 27, 1993, the room was hit really hard (its frescoes  were damaged beyond repair) by a terrible  car bomb explosion in Via dei Georgofili  initiated by the  Sicilian Mafia that targeted the Uffizi Gallery (5 people died, 60 were wounded, 5 minor works were destroyed and 30 others damaged).

The Rape of Proserpina (Giuseppe Grisoni)

In May 2012, the room was closed because the weight of its 17 marble statues was found to have sunk the floor. The complex and important restoration work, costing an approximately €500,000, involved consolidating the arches of the ceiling and removing the moving parts of the paved floor piece by piece, before reinforcing it. It reopened on February 2013.

The Rape of Proserpina (Giuseppe Grisoni)

Today, the 12 statues are lined up along the walls, spaced apart to allow visitors to admire them in isolation, sacrificing part of the relationships between the various works, as well as the a coffered ceiling covered with gold leaves, the beautiful gilded stucco and light marbles of the floor that highlight the strong natural light which enter through the large windows that overlook Via Lambertesca.

Elder Niobid Male

The sculptures, presenting the divine power over human’s arrogance and egoism, represent young characters lying, kneeling, fleeing, pleading to the sky or shot dead in dramatic and theatrical way as they show their great pain and terror at the moment before their tragic death. The focus of the group is Niobe, who tries to protect her youngest daughter, and directs her terrified and pleading gaze skyward.

Henry IV Triumphal Entry into Paris (Peter Paul Rubens) and The Senators of Florence swearing Allegiance to Ferdinando II de’Medici (Justus Sustermans)

The Niobid statuary was flanked by a group of monumental paintings – Henry IV in the Battle of Ivry and Henry IV’s Triumphal Entry into Paris, both by Peter Paul Rubens; The Senators of Florence swearing Allegiance to Ferdinando II de’Medici (Justus Sustermans) and The Rape of Proserpina (Giuseppe Grisoni).

Second Niobid Climbing a Rock

Younger Niobid Male

Damaged in the 1993 Mafia bombing, the Rubens canvases had been restored and rehung. The Suttermans canvas was restored in 2001 and the Gisoni canvas in 2004.

Kneeled Niobid

Niobid Teacher

Great Niobe Room: Room 42, Second Floor, Uffizi Gallery: Piazzale degli Uffizi (adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria), Florence, Italy. Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 8:15 AM to 6:50 PM. Closed on Mondays, December 25 and January 1.  Website: www.uffizi.it. Regular admission: €20.  Reduced Price Ticket: €2 for European Union citizens only, aged +18 | -26 upon showing passport or ID, and citizens of non-EU Countries only upon mutual agreement (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein). The ticket office closes at 5.30 PM and closing operations start at 6.20 PM.

Free admission for children under 18 years of any nationality (show passport or ID card, children younger than 12 must be accompanied by adults); persons with disabilities (if handicap is certified under Law 104/92, D.M. 507/97 and D.M. 13/2019); scholars; university students and teachers; student groups and teachers; tour guides and interpreters; journalists (enrolled in the Italian Association of Journalists); employees of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism; and members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

Taking photographs and videos is permitted provided they are taken without flash, lights and tripods, for personal, non-profit use only. The museum’s busiest times are weekends, Tuesdays and mornings. Doubtless, the best part of the day to visit the museum is in the afternoon; better after 4 PM once large groups have left the museum.  Long lines are inevitable so, despite the slightly higher cost of entrance (extra booking fees), it is better to buy your Uffizi tickets ahead of time to skip the long line and spend more time in the museum.

How to Get There: bus service from Santa Maria Novella Station, bus 23.