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Medici Chapels (Florence, Italy)

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The Medici Chapels

From the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, it was just a short 100 m. walk, via Via Camillo Cavour and Via de’ Gori, to the Medici Chapels (Cappelle medicee).  Its two chapels form part of the  monumental complex developed over almost two centuries in close connection with adjoining Basilica of San Lorenzo (the official church of the Medici).

Check out “Palazzo Medici Riccardi”

L-R: Cheska, Kyle and Grace

Dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, they were built as extensions to Brunelleschi‘s 15th-century church, with the purpose of celebrating the Medici family (who successfully ruled Florence for several centuries and lived in the neighboring palace on Via Larga, now known as the Palazzo Medici Riccardi), patrons of the church and Grand Dukes of Tuscany.

The decision to build their family mausoleum in this church dates to the 14th century.  Giovanni di’ Bicci de’ Medici (died 1429) and his wife Piccarda were buried in the Old Sacristy, on a project designed by Brunelleschi. Later, his son Cosimo the Elder, was buried in the crossing of the church.

Medici Chapels (Florence, Italy)

The Medici Chapels are one of the five museums that make up the Bargello Museums which, in 2015, were reorganized into a single institution (the others are the namesake Bargello Museum, Palazzo Davanzati, Casa Martelli and Orsanmichele). The chapels are divided into three distinct parts – the , the Cappella dei Principi (Chapel of the Princes) and the Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacristy, designed by Michelangelo). We entered through the back of the Basilica of San Lorenzo and our visit to the Medici Chapels began at the crypt.

Check out “Medici Chapels – The Crypt,” “Medici Chapels – Chapel of the Princes” and “Medici Chapels – The New Sacristy“

 

Medici Chapels: Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6 (at the back of the Basilica of San Lorenzo), Florence, Italy. Open daily, 8:15 AM to 2 PM (ticket office closes at 1:20 PM). Closed on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month and 1st, 3rd and 5th Monday of every month as well as New Year’s Day, May 1 and Christmas.  Admission: €8,00.  Free entry for all visitors on the first Sunday of every month between October and March.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi (Florence, Italy)

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Galleria Riccardiana

The Renaissance-style, relatively little frequented Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi  after the later family that acquired and expanded it, is the seat of the Metropolitan City of Florence and a museum. Located along Via Cavour (formerly Via Larga), close to the Church of San Lorenzo, the palace is the first Renaissance building erected in Florence and is a prototype of civil Renaissance architecture. Originally, the Palazzo Medici Riccardi was a cube shape with 10 windows across.  Today, what we see is a rectangular building with 17 windows.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi by night (photo: Wikipedia)

The palace, designed by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (who was influenced in his design of the palace by both classical Roman and Brunelleschian principles) for Cosimo de’ Medici (head of the Medici banking family), was built between 1444 and 1484, after the defeat of the Milanese and when Cosimo de Medici had more governmental power.

Salone Carlo VIII

The simple and modest exterior (though the inside was more decorated) of this building reflects the desire of the Medici family to keep a low profile, while exercising their power behind the scenes, after their return to Florence after their short exile in the early 15th century. This is said to be the reason why Cosimo de’ Medici rejected Filippo Brunelleschi‘s earlier too sumptuous and extravagant proposal (although Brunelleschi’s style can still be seen in the palazzo) for Michelozzo’s more modest design.

Ceiling of Salone Carlo VIII

The palace remained the principal residence of the Medici family until Piero de Medici was exiled in 1494. Following their return to power, the palace continued to be used by lesser members of the Medici until 1540 when Cosimo I, after he became Grand Duke, moved his principal residence to the Palazzo Vecchio. Still, the younger family members continued to use the Palazzo Medici as a residence.

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio“

Bedroom

Its purposely plain exterior too austere for Baroque era tastes, the palace was then sold, in 1659, by Ferdinando II de Medici to marquise Gabriello Riccardi, his majordomo maggiore (probably the highest office in the Florentine court). Francesco Riccardi (a nephew of Gabriello who inherited uncle’s fortune when he died in 1675) had the palace renovated and commissioned Neapolitan artist Luca Giordano (a pupil of Pietro da Cortona) to do the magnificent gallery (probably one of the most beautiful and best-preserved Baroque halls in Italy).

The author at Galleria Riccardiana

Frescoed with the Apotheosis of the Medici, Giordano, with the help of three collaborators, painted the entire gallery from mid-April to the end of August 1685. A new entrance staircase was also built by the architect Foggini and Baroque decorations were added also to the courtyard through the addition of old marbles belonging to the Riccardi collection.
In 1814, the Riccardi family sold the palace to the Tuscan state and, in 1874, the building became the seat of the provincial government of Florence.

Apotheosis of the Medici

Many significant events occurred in the palace:

  • This palace was the main home of Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492), Cosimo the Elder’s grandson and the unmistakable Lord of Florence.
  • In 1478, the Pazzi conspirators came to the palace to pick up Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano to accompany them to the nearby Duomo for mass with the intention of assassinating both (they only succeeded in killing Giuliano during the service).
  • In 1489, a 14 year old Michelangelo came to live here as a teenage artist under the sponsorship of Lorenzo de Medici who actively sought to cultivate the development of young talent.
  • In 1494, when the Medici were temporarily banished from the city, the citizens came to loot the building, taking away many of its Renaissance masterpieces.
  • This palace was where Catherine the Medici, the future queen of France, lived as a little girl in the early 1500’s.
  • The courtyard of the palace was where Donatello’s famous sculpture ‘Judith’ as well as his masterpiece, the bronze David, originally stood (both commissioned by the Medici).
  • In 1512, soon after Giovanni became Pope Leo X, the first Medici pope, Lorenzo’s sons Giovanni and Giuliano return to this palace from exile to eventually rule Florence again – .
  • In 1689, the palace was the site of the wedding reception between Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany and Violante Beatrice of Bavaria. 
  • In 1938, a dinner between heads of state Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler was held in the Gallery Room of the palace.

Garden

The palace, well known for its stone masonry, uses building materials meant to accentuate the structure of the building through the threefold grading of masonry.  By the use of rough texture to smoother textures as the building heightens, the rusticated blocks, on the ground floor, and ashlar for the face of the top story, create an optical recession that makes the building look even larger.

Statue of Hercules with Nemean lion skin

The huge cornice crowning the palazzo’s roofline (the first time it debuted fully developed) gave the palazzo more significance in a historical context. Through their choice of building material on the exterior, the Medici were still able to show their accumulated wealth and the costly and rare rusticated blocks soon became seen as a status symbol. A large part of power politics was believed to have started with the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

Inner Courtyard

The tripartite elevation, expressing the Renaissance spirit of rationality, order, and Classicism on a human scale, is emphasized by horizontal string courses that divide the building into stories of decreasing height. The building seems lighter and taller due to the transition, from the rusticated masonry of the ground floor, to the more delicately refined stonework of the third floor which makes as the eye moves upward to the massive cornice that caps, and clearly defines, the building’s outline.

Inner Courtyard

Ancient Roman elements, both built and imagined in paintings during the Renaissance revival of Classical culture, were often replicated in architecture and, in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, the rusticated masonry and the cornice had precedents in Roman practice.  However, in totality and unlike any known Roman building, it looks distinctly Florentine.

Courtyard of Columns

Michelozzo was influenced by the renowned sculptor and early Renaissance architect Brunelleschi who used Roman techniques. Two asymmetrical doors led to the typical fifteenth century open colonnaded courtyard (which originally opened on to a typically Renaissance garden) decorated with graffiti, a Brunelleschian design at the center of the palazzo plan, was based on the loggia of the Ospedale degli Innocenti and has roots in the cloisters that developed from Roman peristyles.

Statue of Orpheus (Baccio Bandinelli)

In 1517, the once open corner loggia and shop fronts, facing the street, were walled in and were replaced by Michelangelo‘s unusual ground-floor “kneeling windows” (finestre inginocchiate). These new windows, with exaggerated scrolling consoles appearing to support the sill and framed in a pedimented aedicule (a motif repeated in his new main doorway), are set into what appears to be a walled infill of the original arched opening, a Mannerist expression Michelangelo and others repeatedly used.

Tapestry

Different for its time, the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, believed to be the combination of Michelozzo’s traditional and progressive elements (that set the tone and style for future palazzo), was the start of several architectural breakthroughs:

  • The palazzo was the first building in the city to be built after the modern order including its own separate rooms and apartments.
  • The palazzo was also a start, to not only Michelozzo’s climb in status as an architect, but also as “the prototype of the Tuscan Renaissance palazzo” (which became a repeated style in many of his later work).
  • It was one of the first buildings to have a grand staircase that was not a secular design.
  • For a building of this time and the status symbol of the client at the time, it was a simple and modest-looking building.
  • One of Michelozzo’s most important commissions for the family, it became a standard for other housing designed by him in years to come.
  • The design of the palazzo, based on medieval design with other components added to it, was meant to be simpler but set, in such a way, that it still showed the wealth of the Medici family through use of materials, the interior and the simplicity.

Madonna with Child (Fra Lippo Lippi, ca. 1460)

The palazzo, divided into different, clear delineated floors, has a ground floor containing two courtyards, chambers, anti-chambers, studies, lavatories, kitchens, wells, secret and public staircases and, on each floor, other rooms meant for family.

Meeting Room

The perfectly symmetrical Magi Chapel (Capella dei Magi), perhaps the most important section of the palace, had its entrance through the central door, which today is closed. Divided into two juxtaposed squares (a large hall and a raised rectangular apse with an altar and two small lateral sacristies), it was begun around 1449-50.  Its precious ceiling of inlaid wood, painted and generously gilded according to Michelozzo’s design, is attributed to Pagno di Lapo Portigiano.

The Magi Chapel

The flooring, of marble mosaic work, is divided by elaborate geometric design which, due to the extraordinary value of the materials (porphyries, granites, etc.), affirmed the Medicis’ desire to emulate the magnificence of the Roman basilicas and the Florentine Baptistry.  A wooden baldachin, its architectural design attributed to Giuliano da Sangallo, around 1469, is worked in inlay and carving.

Altarpiece with copy of Fra Lippo Lippi’s Adoration in the Forest

The first pictorial element in the chapel is the altar panel bearing a copy, attributed to the Pseudo Pier Francesco Fiorentino (a follower of Filippo Lippi), Filippo Lippi‘s Adoration in the Forest which was sold during the last century and today is in Berlin. In 1992, the original beauty of the painting was restored.

Carved Wooden Stalls at the Magi Chapel

The famous frescos, by Benozzo Gozzoli who completed it around 1459, were adorned with a wealth of anecdotal detail and portraits of members of the Medici family including family members (Cosimo, his son Piero, and grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent) and their allies, along with wealthy protagonists Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaiologos and Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxemburg parading through Tuscany in the guise of the Three Wise Men.

Many of the depictions, regardless of its biblical allusions, explicitly referred to the train of the Concilium that met in Florence during the Council of Florence (1438-1439), an event that brought prestige to both Florence and the Medici.

The Angels in Adoration are in the rectangular apse and the Journey of the Magi are in the large hall. The sumptuous and varied costumes, with their princely finishing, make this pictorial series one of the most fascinating testimonies of art and costume of all time. The frescoes were restored from 1987 to 1992.

The Palazzo also displays works by Donatello, namely the statues David, displayed in the courtyard, and Judith and Holofernes, displayed in the garden. Two lunettes,  by Filippo Lippi, depicting Seven Saints and the Annunciation, are both now at the National Gallery, London.

The courtyard of columns has huge stone friezes decorating the walls.  Above it is a portico decorated with cameo-style carvings.The palace also has an interactive media room (in what was once Lorenzo’s bedroom) and conference rooms (still in use today) decorated with 17th-century tapestries.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi: Via Camillo Cavour 3, Florence, Italy. Open daily (except Wednesday), 9 AM to 7 PM. Tel: (+33) 0 55-276-0340. Website: www.palazzo-medici.it. Admission: €7.00 (adults), €4.00 (children aged 6 to 12, military categories) and free for the disabled and their caretakers.   Ticket sales close at 6.30 PM.

Entrance to the Chapel is limited to a maximum of 8 visitors every 7 minutes Bookings operate on a “fast lane” basis, offering priority entrance at the beginning of every hour(from 9 AM to 6 PM) for a maximum number of 25 people at a time. Visitors who have booked should report to the ticket office at least 15 minutes before the booked time.

How to Get There: C1, 23, 14 stop Pucci

Palazzo Strozzi (Florence, Italy)

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Palazzo Strozzi

Palazzo Strozzi

Palazzo Strozzi, facing the historical Via de’ Tornabuoni, is one of the finest examples of Renaissance domestic and civil architecture.  It has, since World War II, been Florence’s largest temporary exhibition space and, today, the palace is used for the now-annual antique show (founded as the Biennale dell’Antiquariato in 1959), international expositions, fashion shows, and other cultural and artistic events such as “Cézanne in Florence, Two Collectors and the 1910 Exhibition of Impressionism.”

Wooden model of the Palazzo Strozzi

Wooden model of the Palazzo Strozzi

During our visit, there ongoing exhibits were “Migrazioni” (Liu Xiadong, April 22-June 19, 2016) and “From Kandinsky to Pollock: The Art o the Guggenheim Collections” (March 19-July 24, 2016).

Check out “Migrazione Exhibit” and “From Kandinsky to Pollock: The Art o the Guggenheim Collections Exhibit” 

Designed by Benedetto da Maiano and begun in 1489  , the palace was built for Florentine banker, statesman and merchant Filippo Strozzi the Elder, a rival of the  Medici who had returned to the city in November 1466.  He desired the most magnificent palace to assert his affluent family’s continued prominence and, perhaps more important, a political statement of his own status.

Cortile (Central Courtyard)

Cortile (Central Courtyard)

To provide enough space for the construction of the largest palace that had ever been seen in Florence, a great number of other buildings were acquired during the 1470s and then demolished. A wood model of the design was provided by Giuliano da Sangallo. Italian architect Simone del Pollaiolo (il Cronaca), in charge of its construction until 1504, left the palace incomplete and the palace was only completed in 1538, long after Filippo Strozzi’s death in 1491.  That same year, Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici confiscated it but it was returned to the Strozzi family thirty years later.

It remained the property and seat of the Strozzi family until 1937, after which time it was occupied by the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni which made great changes to the building.

The dominating cornice

The dominating cornice

Since 1999, it has been managed by the City of Florence. The Palazzo is now home to the Institute of Humanist Studies, the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi (Palazzo Strozzi Foundation), the noted Gabinetto Vieusseux, with its library and reading room, and the Istituto Nazionale del Rinascimento (Renaissance Studies Institute), the last two occupying the building since 1940.

StairFrom Palazzo Medici, Filippo copied the cubic form, designing its three floors around a cortile  (central courtyard) surrounded by an arcade,  inspired by Michelozzo. Its rusticated stone was also inspired by the Palazzo Medici but with more harmonious proportions. However, this free-standing structure is surrounded on all four sides by streets unlike the Medici Palace which is sited on a corner lot and, thus, has only two sides. The ground plan of Palazzo Strozzi, rigorously symmetrical on its two axes, with clearly differentiated scales for its principal rooms, introduced a problem new in Renaissance architecture (given the newly felt desire for internal symmetry of planning symmetry) – how to integrate the cross-axis.

The paired mullioned windows

The paired mullioned windows

The three sides overlooking the street each have three arched portals. The palazzo, with its dominating cornice (typical of the Florentine palaces of the time), has paired mullioned  windows (bifore) and wrought-iron lanterns, done by an iron-worker named Caparra, decorating the corners of the palace exterior. As they rise to the keystone, the radiating voussoirs of the arches increase in length, a detail that was much copied for arched windows set in rustication in the Renaissance revival.

Migrazioni (Liu Xiadong)

Migrazioni (Liu Xiadong)

Palazzo Strozzi: Piazza degli Strozzi, 50123 Florence, Italy. Tel: +39 055 264 5155. Open daily, 10 AM – 8 PM (Thursdays, 11 PM). E-mail: info@palazzostrozzi.org. Website: www.palazzostrozzi.org. Admission: €12.00.

Piazza della Santissima Annunziata (Florence, Italy)

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Piazza della Santissima Annunziata

On our way to the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, we passed by the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata.  Named after the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (Basilica of the Most Holy Annunciation) at the head of the square, in the center of the piazza is the large, bronze equestrian statue of Ferdinando I flanked by the Fountains of the Marine Monsters. The piazza was not designed by Brunelleschi, as is sometimes reported in guide books.

Check out “National Archaeological Museum of Florence”

This square doesn’t find itself on many mainstream itineraries but, for a very long time, it was actually the heart of the city and, even today, the piazza is a crossroad for those going to the train station, the Duomo or Piazza Beccaria.

This open, peaceful and airy space, one of the few spaces in Florence that was purposely built in the Renaissance style (which meant that it embraces the idea of a “Utopian society”- ordered and accessible to all men), was designed to be appreciated for its elegance and harmonizing colors.

Equestrian Statue of Ferdinando I

The massive and life size bronze equestrian statue of Ferdinand I of Tuscany (Ferdinando I de’ Medici), astride a stallion, was executed by noted sculptor  Giambologna  (who had, by now, reached international fame for his equestrian statues), was cast in 1602 using bronze from cannons on Turkish galleys captured in war, and was placed in the square in 1608.

Fountains of the Marine Monsters

The Fountains of the Marine Monsters are two Late Mannerist-style fountains, with fantastical figures, all works completed by the late-Renaissance sculptor Pietro Tacca (1577-1640), a loyal student and successor to Giambologna.

Tacca was asked to design them to decorate the port of Livorno, near the Monument of the Four Moors (“Quattro Mori”) he had created between 16th and 17th century. However, in 1641 Ferdinando II, the grandson to Ferdinando I insisted that the two fountains remain in Florence where they still are today.

In addition to the square, there are several important structures to visit – the Palazzo Budini Gattai, the Loggia dei Servi di Maria, the aforementioned National Archeological Museum, the Ospedale degli Innocenti and the Palazzo delle Due Fontane. The piazza’s eastern side is defined by the Ospedale degli Innocenti, the wet by Loggia dei Servi di Maria, and the north by the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata

Basilica della Santissima Annunziata

The Renaissance-style Basilica della Santissima Annunziata, considered the mother church of the Servite Order, was founded in 1250. The facade was added in 1601 by the architect Giovanni Battista Caccini, imitating the Renaissance-style of Brunelleschi‘s facade of the Ospedale degli Innocenti.

Ospedale degli Innocenti

The historic Spedale degli Innocenti, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (he received the commission in 1419 from the Arte della Seta or Silk Guild of Florence), is regarded as a notable example of early Italian Renaissance architecture.  Originally a children’s orphanage and hospital, it features a nine bay loggia facing the piazza.   Today, it houses a small museum of Renaissance art with works by Luca della Robbia, Sandro Botticelli, Piero di Cosimo and an Adoration of the Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio. In 2016, it was restored and restructured.

Palazzo Budini Gattai

The Palazzo Budini Gattai (also known as Palazzo Grifoni), an aristocratic red-brick residence dating from the 16th century, was begun by Giuliano di Baccio d’Agnolo (a pupil of Michelangelo) and was continued, on his death, by Bartolomeo Ammannati, who probably also designed the Italian-style garden laid out in around 1573. At the end of the 18th century, the Grifoni family line died out and the property passed into the hands of the Riccardi family and finally to the Budini Gattai, the present owners of the property.

Why is the last window on the right hand side, at the second floor of Palazzo Budini-Gattai, always open?  Well, according to a legend, the Grand Duke Ferdinand I was called to the army to fight a war with the noble and patrician families of Florence and he had to leave Bianca Cappello, his beautiful young bride of a few months, who gave him the last greeting from the window of the palace. She waited for the return of her beloved husband, spending her days embroidering, and sitting on an armchair beside the window overlooking the square, never giving up hope until the day she died. 

Upon her death, the family carried her body out and closed the window only to find themselves haunted by a frenzy of books flying, furniture dancing, paintings falling down and the lights going out. From that day forward the window remains open, just in case he comes home. Another version tells about the neighborhood of the square who, moved by that sad love story, decided to keep the window open in memory of the woman,

The arches and columns of the Loggia dei Servi di Maria, the romantic loggia (or portico) next to the Palazzo Budini Gattai, complete the symmetry in the square.  It was built, between 1516-1525, on a design created by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder.  Originally, Brunelleschi intended for the circles between the columns on the Loggia for the Hospital to remain empty but, Andrea della Robbia (selected in 1490, long after Brunelleschi’s demise) decorated the six frontal and 4 lateral concaves.

Loggia dei Servi di Maria

The 10 tondi (medallions) have the standard light blue background, with white putti, dressed in swaddling cloth, to represent the abandoned children and orphans. Originally built for the mendicant order, today the Servi di Maria, together with Palazzo Budini Gattai, are now a hotel.

Palazzo delle Due Fontane

Palazzo delle Due Fontane, between via dei Servi and via dei Fibbiai, was originally a building of ancient construction, reconfigured between the end of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century to provide an adequate backdrop to the square. Its relatively recent façade repeats, while simplifying them, the shapes and colors of the nearby Palazzo Budini Gattai. The building is currently occupied by the Albergo le Due Fontane, an accommodation facility. The ground floor, in particular, has a stone ashlar.

Piazza della Santissima Annunziata: Florence, Italy.

Bargello Museum (Florence, Italy)

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Opened as a national museum (Museo Nazionale del Bargello) in 1865, its original structure, built alongside the Volognana Tower in 1256, had two storeys. After the fire of 1323, a third story, identified by the smaller blocks used to construct it, was added. During the 15th century, the palace was also subjected to a series of alterations and additions but still preserving its harmonious and pleasant severity.

Bargello Museum

Bargello Museum

Here are some interesting historical trivia regarding this building:

  • Started in 1255, this austere crenelated building is the oldest public building in Florence.
  • The word “bargello” appears to have been derived from the late Latin word bargillus (from Goth bargi and German burg), meaning “castle” or “fortified tower.” During the Italian Middle Ages, it was the name given to a military captain in charge of keeping peace and justice (hence “Captain of justice”) during riots and uproars. In Florence he was usually hired from a foreign city to prevent any appearance of favoritism on the part of the Captain. The position could be compared with that of a current Chief of police. The name Bargello was extended to the building which was the office of the captain.
  • It is also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People)
  • This building served as model for the construction of the Palazzo Vecchio. Honolulu Hale‘s interior courtyard, staircase and open ceiling were also modeled after the Bargello.
  • It was built to first house the Capitano del Popolo (“Captain of the People”) and, later, in 1261, the “podestà,” the highest magistrate of the Florence City Council (it was originally called the Palazzo del Podestà). In 1574, the Medici dispensed with the function of the podestà and housed the bargello, the police chief of Florence.
  • Before it was turned into an art museum, it was a former barracks and prison during the whole 18th century. Executions, the most famous perhaps being that of Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli (involved in the Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici, which Leonardo da Vinci also witnessed), also took place in the Bargello’s yard until they were abolished by Grand Duke Peter Leopold in 1786, but it remained the headquarters of the Florentine police until 1859. When Leopold II, the Holy Roman Emperor, was exiled, the makeshift Governor of Tuscany decided that the Bargello should no longer be a jail, and it then became a national museum. It was also the meeting place of the Council of the Hundred in which Dante Alighieri took part.
  • It displays the largest Italian collection, mainly from the grand ducal collections, of “minor” Gothic decorative arts and Renaissance sculptures (14–17th century).

Check out “Palazzo Vecchio“

The courtyard

The unique courtyard

The building is designed around a beautiful, irregular and unique open courtyard with an open well in the center. The walls of the courtyard are covered with dozens of coats-of-arms of the various podestà and giudici di ruota (judges).

The centrally located open well

The centrally located open well

The enormous entrance hall leading to the courtyard has heraldic decorations on the walls with the coats-of-arms of the podestà (13th-14th centuries). The courtyard has more coats-of-arms of the podestà.  Under the porticoes are insignia of the quarters and districts of the city. Set against its walls are various 16th century statues by Baccio Bandinelli, Bartolomeo Ammannati, Domenico  Pieratti, Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti, Giambologna and Vincenzo Danti.

The external open staircase leading to the loggia

The external open staircase leading to the loggia

The external open staircase leading to the second floor loggia, built in the 14th century, has various ornamental works by other 16th century artists including the delightful bronze animals made for the garden of the Medici Villa di Castello.

The author in ront of the statue of Oceano (Giambologna)

The author in front of the statue of Oceano (Giambologna)

Juno Fountain originally for the Sala Grande

Juno Fountain originally for the Sala Grande in Palazzo Vecchio (Bartolomeo Ammannati)

Alpheus and Arethusa, a 16th century relief

Alpheus and Arethusa, a 16th century relief

Apollo Pitio Vincenzo Danti)

Apollo Pitio (Vincenzo Danti)

San Giovanni Battista (circa 1620, Domenico Pieratti)

Statue of St. John the Baptist (circa 1620, Domenico Pieratti)

San Lucas Evangelista(Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti)

Statue of St. Luke the Evangelist  (Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti)

The first room to the right, formerly the Salone del Consiglio Generale but now the Donatello Room, contains many works of Donatello (1386-1466). The St. George Tabernacle (1416), moved to this location from the niche in Orsanmichele, is the very first example of the stiacciato technique, a very low bas-relief that provides the viewer with an illusion of depth, and one of the first examples of central-point perspective in sculpture.

The Marzocco, one of the symbols of Florence (Donatello)

The Marzocco, one of the symbols of Florence (Donatello)

Other works include the young St. John; the marble David (1408); the more mature and ambiguous bronze David (1430), the first delicate nude of the Renaissance; and the Marzocco, originally installed on the battlements of Palazzo Vecchio.

Madonna and Child between Angels (1475, Luca della Robbia)

Madonna and Child between Angels (1475, Luca della Robbia)

At the back wall of the Donatello Room are two bronze bas-relief panels, both competing designs for “The Sacrifice of Isaac” (Sacrificio di Isacco, the image had to include the father and son, as well as an altar, a donkey, a hill, two servants and a tree) made and entered by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi to win the contest for the second set of north doors of the Florence Baptistery (1401) in Piazza del Duomo. The judges chose Ghiberti for the commission.

Madonna and Child with St. John (Giovanni della Robbia)

Madonna and Child with St. John (Giovanni della Robbia)

Two rooms on the second floor are dedicated to the repertoire of glazed Renaissance terracotta sculptures created by Andrea Della Robbia, Luca Della Robbia (c. 1400 – 1482) and Giovanni Della Robbia.   The glazed terracotta by Luca della Robbia includes a very extraordinary group of Madonna with Child.

Drunkeness of Noah (Baccio Bandinelli)

Drunkeness of Noah (Baccio Bandinelli)

Diana and Actaeon (Francesco Mosca)

Diana and Actaeon (c. 1578, Francesco Mosca)

The large 14th century hall, on the first floor, displays a collection of 14th century sculpture, including works by Nicola Pisano.  The rooms on the ground floor exhibit Tuscan 16th century works. The room closest to the staircase focuses, in particular, on four important masterpieces by Michelangelo (1475-1564): Bacchus (1470, the tipsy god of wine is being held up by a tree trunk and a little satyr), Pitti Tondo (relief representing a Madonna with Child), Brutus (1530) and David-Apollo.

Bacchus (Michelangelo)

Bacchus (Michelangelo)

The assortment is then followed by works of Andrea Sansovino (1460-1529), Jacopo Sansovino‘s Bacchus  (1486-1570, made on his own to compete against Michelangelo’s), Baccio Bandinelli (1488- 1560), Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511-1592), Benvenuto Cellini (represented with his bronze bust of Cosimo I and the model of Perseus and the small bronze sculptures, moved to this location from the Loggia dell’Orcagna), down to Giambologna (1529-1608) with his Architecture and the admirable Mercury; and Vincenzo Gemito‘s Il Pescatore (“fisherboy”).

L'Architectura (Giambologna)

Architecture (Giambologna)

Il Pescatore (Vincenzo Gemito)

Il Pescatore (Vincenzo Gemito)

Adam and Eve (Baccio Bandinelli)

Adam and Eve (Baccio Bandinelli)

Leda with the Swan (marble, Bartolomeo Ammannati)

Marble statue of Leda with the Swan (Bartolomeo Ammannati)

Mercury (Giambologna)

Mercury (Giambologna)

There are a few works from the Baroque period, notably Gianlorenzo Bernini‘s 1636-7 Bust of Costanza Bonarelli. The staircases now display bronze animals that were originally placed in the grotto of the Medici villa of Castello. There are also sculptures by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo and others.

Limoges porcelain

Limoges porcelain

Also distributed among the several rooms of the palace, both on the first and second floor, are many other fine works of art enriched by the Carrand, Ressman and Franchetti collections comprising decorative or “minor” arts.  They include ivories that include several Roman and Byzantine examples; Medieval glazes and Limoges porcelain from German and French gold works; Renaissance jewels; Islamic examples of damascened bronze; and Venetian glass; all  from the Medici collections and those of private donors.

Bronze statue of David (1466, Andrea del Verrocchio)

Bronze statue of David (1466, Andrea del Verrocchio)

The bronze David and the Lady with Posy by Andrea del Verrocchio are in the room named after the artist.

Bust of Cardinal Paolo Emilio Zacchia (1625, Algardi)

Bust of Cardinal Paolo Emilio Zacchia (1625, Alessandro Allgardi)

Also on display are an extraordinary collection of busts of Florentine personalities made by some of the most important 15th century artists such as Desiderio da Settignano (c. 1430-1464) and Antonio Rossellino (c. 1427-1479), both pupils of Donnatello; Alessanro Algardi, Mino da Fiesole,  Antonio Pollaiolo and others.

Arms and armor

Display cases of arms and armor from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

The museum also displays very unique panel pieces and wooden sculptures; ceramics (maiolica); waxes;  goldwork and enamels from the Middle Ages to the 16th century; furniture; textiles; tapestries in the Sala della Torre; silver; arms and armor from the Middle Ages to the 17th century; small bronze statues, old coins and a very lavish collection of medals by Pisanello belonging to the Medici family.

Medal

Medals belonging to the Medici family

Bargello Museum: Via del Proconsolo 4, Florence, Italy. Open Tuesdays to Fridays, 8.15 AM – 1.50 PM, closed on the 2nd and 4th Sunday and the 1st, 3rd and 5th Monday of each month. Admission: €4.00.

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

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.