Category Archives: Museums

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of the Iliad (Florence, Italy)

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During the Medici era, trucco (“trick, a form of ground billiards) was played here and, in 1689, Cosimo III de Medici made it his own private room, equipped with a chapel. The original decoration, by Giuseppe Nicola Nasini, dates back to that period with the Novissimi, four very large religious canvases that represented the last four moments of life – Death, Justice, the Inferno and Paradise.

Hall of the Iliad (Sala dell’Iliade)

In 1795, the Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany, of the House of  Habsburg-Lorraine, had the religious canvases removed and incorporated the room in the sequence that would constitute a major part into the path of the Palatine Gallery.

Hall of the Iliad (Sala dell’Iliade)

He wanted to have it redecorated with a mythological theme but this program was only realized in 1815, after his return from Napoleonic exile, when he entrusted the enterprise to Luigi Sabatelli  who, from 1819 to 1825, worked on it with the use of aid.

Assembly of the Gods presided over by Jupiter

 

The fresco is a representation of the events prior to the Trojan War (taken from Book XV of Homer’s Iliad).  At the center is the Council of the Gods where Jove (Jupiter) orders the assembled gods to refrain from interfering or trying to influence the outcome of the Trojan War.

Lunettes depicting Juno, who despised the Trojans, using various initiatives to distract Jove with her seductions.

The lunettes, on the other hand, depict Juno, who despised the Trojans, using various initiatives to distract Jove with her seductions.

Statue of Charity (Lorenzo Bartolini)

On display is La Gravida (ca. 1506), a work by Raphael, whose brilliant colors are enhanced by the black background, typical of contemporary Flemish painting.

Baptism of Christ (Paolo Veronese , ca. 1580)

Each wall has a large altarpiece in the center which, as a whole, exemplifies the various currents of the early sixteenth century in Florence.

Assunta Panciatichi (Andrea del Sarto, ca. 1522-1523)

Two, in rigorous symmetry, are by Andrea del Sarto – the Assunta Passerini (1526) and the Assunta Panciatichi (ca. 1522-1523).  Another, the Pala Pitti (1512), is by Fra Bartolomeo, while the Pala Dei (1522) is by Rosso Fiorentino.

Christ in Glory and Saints (Annibale Carracci, ca. 1597-1598)

Other works in the Hall of the Iliad include:

Madonna and Child Enthroned, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Eustace (Niccolò Soggi, ca. 1510)

Hall of the Iliad:First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00).

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of Ulysses (Florence, Italy)

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Hall of Ulysses (Sala di Ulisse)

At the time of the Medici, the Hall of Ulysses (Sala di Ulisse) was the grand duke’s bedroom. From about 1775, when the Hapsburg-Lorraines succeeded as Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the room was part of the apartment of Maria Theresa of Habsburg-Lorraine (eldest daughter of Pietro Leopoldo) and, after the Napoleonic interlude, was used, with the nearby rooms, as part of the Palatine Gallery.

In this period, after 1814, Grand Duke Ferdinando III of Hapsburg-Lorraine commissioned Gaspare Martellini to paint on the ceiling the Return of Ulysses to Ithaca (alluding to the return of the Grand Duke after the exile in the Napoleonic period), with a frieze decorated at the corners below with allegories of Loyalty, of Fortress, of Hercules and Apollo. In this room, Il Cigoli‘s Ecce Homo (1607) was selected, during the Napoleonic looting, to be sent to Paris along with the other works of art.

Ceiling fresco

In our museum itinerary, the first painting we encountered was the Madonna dell’Impvecchia (Madonna of the Implanted, ca. 1514), a noteworthy work by Raphael which was made during the artist’s stay in Rome. The Virgin and Child in Glory with Six Saints (1527-1528) is the first work of Andrea del Sarto‘s gallery.

Virgin and Child in Glory with Six Saints (Andrea del Sarto, 1527-28)

Also interesting is the Death of Lucrezia (ca. 1475), one of the gallery’s rare fifteenth-century works and an early painting by Filippino Lippi who decorated a pair of wedding chests made perhaps in collaboration with Botticelli.

Love the Winner (Orazio Riminaldi, ca. 1624)

Other works in the Hall of Ulysses include:

Saint John the Baptist in the Desert (Cristofano Allori, ca. 1612-1615)

Hall of Ulysses: First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00).

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of Prometheus (Florence, Italy)

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Hall of Prometheus

The Hall of Prometheus (Sala di Prometeo), in the Medici era, was part of the private apartment of the Grand Duke.  Although intended for a public function, the meeting of the Council of the Grand Duchy was done here in the presence of the Grand Duke himself.

Ceiling fresco (Giuseppe Colignon)

From 1809 to 1814, it was redecorated with frescoes, by the Sienese artist Giuseppe Collignon, with stories of Prometheus (after whom the room is named), both in the large panel of the ceiling and in the monochrome frieze; at the corners the Four Seasons. Here, Prometheus is shown stealing sacred fire from the chariot of Apollo while being protected by Minerva

Tondo Bartolini (Filippo Lippi)

The room is dedicated to the oldest paintings in the collection from the Florentine Renaissance and, in particular, the 12 tondi, typical round-shaped paintings of private homes loved by Florentine patrons but which were inserted into square Neo-Classical frames in later periods.

Other tondi

The most famous of the tondi is the Madonna with the Child (ca. 1465-1470), a masterpiece by Filippo Lippi known as the Tondo Bartolini, of delicate harmony typical of the artist’s maturity.  There are also the two portraits done  by Sandro Botticelli and his shop including the Bella Simonetta.

St. Francis in Ecstasy (Jusepe de Ribera, 1643)

Here is also the Holy Family with a Saint (ca. 1490-1495), a tondo by Luca Signorelli. The first Tuscan Mannerism is represented by the Adoration of the Magi (1523 ) and by the Ten Thousand Martyrs (ca. 1529-1530) by Jacopo Pontormo.

Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Earthly Paradise (Andrea del Minga and Baccio Bandinelli, ca. 1560)

Other works in the Hall of Prometheus include:

Colossal Vase (Sèvres manufacture, 1844)

Hall of Prometheus: First Floor, Palatine Gallery, Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00).

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.

Palazzo Pitti – Poccetti Gallery (Florence, Italy)

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Poccetti Gallery (Galleria del Poccetti)

The next room, between the apartments of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, was the Poccetti Gallery (Galleria del Poccetti), also called Poccetti’s Corridor (Corridorio del Poccetti).

Ceiling vault

During the 17th century, this room was once a barrel-vaulted loggia referred to as the “loggetta made into a gallery,” a passageway open to the garden and an interior courtyard that connected the private apartment of the Grand Duke with the apartment of the Grand Duchess.

Allegory of Justice (Mateo Rosselli)

This corridor owes its traditional name to the erroneous attribution of the frescoes on the vault, once believed to be by Florentine artist  Bernardino Poccetti (Bernardino Barbatelli) and, instead, made after his death, at the time of Cosimo II.

It was based on a project by his pupil Michelangelo Cinganelli who executed the pictorial decoration with the help of Filippo Tarchiani, Matteo Rosselli and Ottavio Vannini (1620-25).  In 1813, the logetta was closed off and became a part of the new Palatine Gallery.

Lunette with fresco of Siena with the She-wolf

Lunette with fresco of Florence with the Marzocco

In keeping with the typical taste at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, the ceiling vault is subdivided into squares, cartouches, panels and folders built into the architecture, with allegorical figures such as Faith, Justice and Fortress; in the lunettes the allegories of Florence (with the marzocco) and of Siena (with the she-wolf). The whole is enriched with grotesques and stuccos.  In the center of the hall is a table (1716) commissioned by Cosimo III and done by Giovan Battista Foggini.

Ila and the Nymphs (Francesco Furini, 1630-1633)

Other works in the Poccetti Gallery include:

Bust of Cosimo II (Mattias Ferrucci, 1621)

Poccetti Gallery: Pitti Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00).

 

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.

Palazzo Pitti – Hall of Music (Florence, Italy)

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Hall of Music (Sala della Musica)

Returning to the Sala del Castagnoli, we then entered the Hall of Music (Sala della Musica) which was built, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, by combining two rooms that connected the respective apartments of the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess.  With its Neo-Classical decoration, the room was intended for musical entertainment, hence its also being known as the Drums due to the curious cylindrical shape of the furniture such as stools and commodes.  

In 1813, during the Napoleonic period, it was decided to create a “first drawing room of the Emperor” here, decorated with murals depicting the Genius of France and the Napoleonic Battles.  In 1814, with the restoration of the Lorraines, Luigi Ademollo (1764-1849) was commissioned to completely renovated the half-decorated room by creating a new theme for the fresco (Glory of the Habsburg House) on the ceiling.

In 1860 the fresco was retouched by the Savoy family  by adding the Italian flag and giving it a blue mantle and the Savoy crown, thereby transforming the personification of Austria into that of Italy.The monochrome frieze, which shows the Liberation of Vienna from the Turkish Siege in 1683, effectively simulates bas-reliefs.

A table, made in 1819 by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (Napoleon’s court goldsmith), consists of a large block of glowing green malachite dignified the malachite with lion paws and sphinxes and mounted onto a lavish base of gold-plated metal.

Table (Pierre-Philippe Thomire, 1819)

Works in the Music Room also include:

  • Four busts of Roman emperors (Francesco Carradori)
  • Furniture series comprising twelve sideboards and sixteen stools (tambourines) (Florentine manufacture of the century XIX, 1820)
  • Four candelabra (French manufacture of the century. XIX, ca. 1805)
  • Clock (French manufacture of the century. XIX, ca. 1856)
  • Two watches (French manufacture of the century. XIX) 

Monochrome frieze showing Liberation of Vienna from the Turkish Siege in 1683

Hall of Music: Pitti Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00). 

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.

Palazzo Pitti – White Hall (Florence, Italy)

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White Hall (Sala Bianca)

During the time of the Medici, this majestic hall, made as the Salone dei Forestieri (Hall for Guests) for Grand Duke Ferdinando I (1549-1609) to house important visitors, was formerly the antechamber to the apartment of the “Cardinals and Foreign Princes” (now known as the “Apartment of the Tapestries”).

Around 1638, the room was decorated with 3 large monochrome pictures painted in 1589 by Ludovico Cigoli (1559-1613), Francesco Mati and Alessandro Allori (1535-1607) for the wedding of Ferdinando I and Cristina of Lorraine (1565-1637).   It later became the drawing room of the apartment of Violante of Bavaria (1673-1731), wife of the Grand Prince Ferdinando (1663-1713).

Stucco ceiling

During the House of Lorraine Period, it was transformed, at the wishes of Grand Duke Peter Leopold, into a sumptuous ballroom (still the largest room in the whole Palace) and was decorated, in high-relief stucco, between 1774 and 1776, by famous stucco makers Grato and Giocondo Albertolli, two brothers from Lugano who were hired by the Grand Duke to also decorate the ballroom of Villa del Poggio Imperiale. The result was so surprising that the Grand Duke decided not to cover the stuccos with gold but, as suggested by the stucco plasterers themselves, left them white, thus giving it the name White Hall (Sala Bianca)

Ceiling detail

All based on symbols of Neo-Classicism, the rich ornamental style of the stucco works adds a refined elegance to the room which is accentuated by the brightness of the white standing out against the pastel colors (pink, green and ochre) on the walls.  After the latest restoration interventions, the delicate tones of these colors were brought back to light.

Corinthian pilasters flanking doorway

The side walls are spaced, at intervals, with Corinthian pilasters and large doorways richly decorated with frames that culminate in segmental pediments leading into the rooms adjacent to the ballroom.

The large chandelier

This decorative setting, with its extremely modern, clean geometric style, was enriched with the sumptuous mirrors (from Paris) and 11 chandeliers (purchased in 1785 from the shop-emporium of Giacinto Micali in Livorno). To provide a symmetrical division of space and light, a larger chandelier was placed in the center and 10 on the sides of the room (4 on the long sides and 2 on each of the shorter ones).  The pavement, of fictive Venetian mosaic, dates from 1829.

Pediment above doorway

In the period just after World War II, this stunning ballroom became the important setting for international fashion.  In 1951, the first catwalk show was organized here by Giovanni Battista Giorgini and, for the following 30 years, the fashion parades in the White Hall have played an important role in spreading the international quality of fashion, making the ‘Pitti’ name world-renowned. Today, the White Room is often used for temporary exhibitions.

Bas-relief

White Hall: Pitti Palace, Piazza de’ Pitti, 1, Florence, Italy. Tel:+39 055 294883. Open Tuesdays-Sundays, 8:15 AM – 6:50 PM. Admission: Palatine Gallery (€8.50), Silver Museum (€6.00), Gallery of Modern Art (€8.50), Costume Gallery/Porcelain Museum/Boboli Gardens/Bardini Garden (€6.00).

How to Get There: Take the C3 or D bus to the Pitti stop.

Medici Chapels – The New Sacristy (Florence, Italy)

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New Sacristy (Sagrestia Nuova)

The Sagrestia Nuova (“New Sacristy”), intended by Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (future Pope Clement VII) and his cousin Pope Leo X as a mausoleum or mortuary chapel for members of the Medici family (his uncle Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano; Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino; and Giuliano, Duke of Nemours), balances Brunelleschi‘s Sagrestia Vecchia (“Old Sacristy”), nestled between the left transept of the Basilica of San Lorenzo (with which it consciously competes) and shares its format of a cubical space surmounted by a dome, of gray pietra serena and whitewashed walls.

In the passage leading to the New Sacristy are two military trophies (trofeus militares) executed by Silvio Cosini, a further close pupil of Michelangelo.  They were part of the early project for the decoration (which included decorative grotteschi decoration and masks) of the New Sacristy, which was left unfinished in 1534 due to Michelangelo’s definitive move to Rome.

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Military Trophies (Troféus Militares) by Silvio Cosini

The chapel, the first essay in architecture (1519–24)  of Michelangelo (who also designed its monuments dedicated to certain members of the Medici family), features the sculptural figures of the four times of day that were destined to influence sculptural figures reclining on architraves for many generations to come.

Altar

The Sagrestia Nuova was entered by a discreet but now closed entrance in a corner of San Lorenzo’s right transept.

The sacristy’s dome partly inspired by the Pantheon in Rome

This magnificent cubic space is covered by a hemispherical dome topped by a lantern, whose design was inspired partly by the Pantheon in Rome.

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Tomb of Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici which includes the sculptures Dusk and Dawn, with the pensive duke sitting in a niche above in a meditative manner

By 1524, it was vaulted over but the ambitious projects of its sculpture and the intervention of events (the temporary exile of the Medici in 1527, the death of  Pope Clement VII and the permanent departure of Michelangelo for Rome in 1534) meant that Michelangelo never finished it.

Duskl ooks sleepy, as if ready to fall into a peaceful sleep

Dawn seem like it is just awaking from slumber

By the time of Michelangelo’s departure, most of the statues had been carved but they had not been put in place, being left in disarray across the chapel. Later, in 1545, they were installed by Niccolò Tribolo. By order of Cosimo I, Giorgio Vasari and Florentine architect Bartolomeo Ammannati finished the work by 1555.

Tomb of Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici decorated with the sculptures of a reclining Day and Night, made between 1526 and 1531. Both allegories are said to reflect Giuliano’s personality, prudent but ready to act, and indeed his statue sitting above the sarcophagus, sculpted as a Roman mercenary, lends credence to this portrayal.

Four Medici tombs were intended to be built but those of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano were never begun. As a result, the two existing magnificent tombs, with the four statues of the allegories of Dawn and Dusk, Night (placed at the right foot of Giuliano, it is regarded as one of Michelangelo’s finest works) and Day, are those of Lorenzo di Piero, Duke of Urbino and Giuliano di Lorenzo, Duke of Nemours, two comparatively insignificant Medici here depicted as Roman leaders.

Day is depicted as a strapping man, his face unfinished

Night is portrayed as a young, sleek woman “drenched in lunar light”

Though their architectural components are similar; their sculptures offer contrast. On an unfinished wall, Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child flanked by Saints Cosmas and Damian (the Medici patrons), executed by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli and Raffaello da Montelupo (both of whom were pupils of Michelangelo) respectively, to Michelangelo’s models, are set over the plain rectangular tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent. His brother Giuliano de Medici is modestly buried beneath the altar at the entrance wall.  Both were brought to the sacristy in 1559.

Statues of Madonna and Child flanked by Saints Cosmas and Damian over the tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent

In 1976, numerous charcoal drawings and sketches executed on walls, thought to be 16th century Michelangelo originals, were discovered in a small space in a concealed corridor beneath the apse and sacristies of the New Sacristy.

Crowning Lantern (Giovanni di Baldassare)

The 56 drawings show legs, feet, heads and masks, and may be related to the statues and architecture of the sacristy. From two small side rooms, go beyond the Crowning Lantern in the room on the right to see two of these charcoal drawings.

Michaelangelo Charcoal Drawings

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.

Medici Chapels – Chapel of the Princes (Florence, Italy)

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Jandy at the Chapel of the Princes (Capella dei Principi)

The larger, opulent Chapel of the Princes (Cappella dei Principi), a true expression of court art and a rare example in Florence of the Baroque style, was the result of collaboration among architects and family.  An idea formulated by Cosimo I in the 16th century, it was put into effect by Ferdinand I de’ Medici in the early 17th century (1604 to 1640).

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The author beside the Sarcophagus of Francesco I

The chapel was designed by architect  Matteo Nigetti (1560-1649), following some sketches tendered to an informal competition of 1602 by Don Giovanni de’ Medici, the natural son of Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany who practiced architecture in a semi-professional way, which were altered in the execution by the aged Bernardo Buontalenti.

The cahpel’s altar

The huge, beautiful cupola and lavish interior of this mausoleum were conceived as monuments to the greatness of the Medici. The chapel’s tall, 59 m. (185-ft.) high dome, the distinguishing feature of the Basilica of San Lorenzo when seen from a distance, is on the same axis as the nave and chancel to which it provides the equivalent of an apsidal chapel. From the exterior, its entrance is in Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini and through the low vaulted crypt planned by Bernardo Buontalenti (before plans for the chapel above were made).

Sarcophagus of Cosimo I

Its sumptuous, jaw-dropping octagonal interior, conceived to hold the grand ducal tombs, is completely covered with hard stones or marble, mainly of foreign origin.  The six grand and princely sarcophagi (all empty as the Medici remains are unceremoniously laid to rest in the crypt below), with cenotaphs carved in porphyry and grey granite, are each set into a different wall and embellished with a dedicatory inscription and a grand-ducal crown.

Sarcophagus of Cosimo II

They were supposed to have bronze statues of the Grand Dukes (Cosimo I, Francesco I, Ferdinando I, Cosimo II, Ferdinando II, and Cosimo III) set into niches but only two (for Ferdinando I and Cosimo II) of the niches have portrait sculptures of Medici, both executed by Pietro Tacca (1626–42). The dado has 16 compartments with coats-of-arms of Tuscan cities under Medici control.

Sarcophagus of Cosimo III

The Opificio delle Pietre Dure (Semi-Precious Stones Workshop), the Grand Ducal hardstone workshop, was established for the execution (which lasted for three centuries) of its astonishing revetment of marbles inlaid with colored marbles and hard semi-precious stone. To form the designs of the revetment that entirely cover the walls, jig-sawn fragments of specimen stones assembled via the art of commessi, as it was called in Florence.

Sarcophagus of Ferdinando II

On account of the difficulty of obtaining such rare materials as well as difficulties of working the materials and their very high cost, the process of covering the walls, mainly carried out in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, was fraught with problems.

Sarcophagus of Ferdinando I

The inlay of semi-precious stones wasn’t finished until 1962. Many 18th- and 19th-century visitors disapproved of the result but, today, it has come to be appreciated for an example of the taste of its time.

Sarcophagus of Francesco I

The cupola originally should have had an internal covering of lapis lazuli but, at the end of the Medici period, was left incomplete.  In 1828, at the command of Grand Duke Leopold II of the then reigning house of Lorraine, it was frescoed, with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, by Pietro Benvenuti.

The chapel’s cupola frescoed with scenes from the Old and New Testament

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.

Medici Chapels – The Crypt (Florence, Italy)

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Medici Chapel Crypt

The vaulted crypt, tidied up in the 19th century, now houses the tombs of the Medici grand dukes and their families, from Cosimo I, Grand Duke of Tuscany to his wife Eleanor of Toledo, Cardinal Giancarlo de’ Medici to Vittoria della Rovere to the revered Anna Maria Luisa de Medici, the last heir of the Medici dynasty, to whom Florence owes the protection of its many treasures.

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Anna Maria Luisa Medici Statue and Tomb

The crypt has a low ceiling and bare walls, a far cry from the splendor one might expect when it comes to Florentine rulers as illustrious and powerful as the Medici. Their modest tombs are little more than plaques inlaid in the pavement with metal barriers that surround them serving as the only indication that they’re something worth preserving.

Some of the modest, plaque-topped Medici tombs

For example, even the tomb of young Cosimo, Grand-Prince of Tuscany, is simply tucked away between a robust pillar. The simple tombstone and statue of Ana Maria de Medici stands near the entrance.

Altar

In the center of the crypt is a permanent exhibition featuring the Treasure of San Lorenzo, consisting of reliquaries, liturgical vestments, ceremonial objects as well as various pieces related to the Medici family including effigies, medallions, jewelry, rock crystal, and semi-precious stone vases, silvers, and other precious applied art pieces.

Treasures of San Lorenzo

All great examples of Renaissance and Baroque goldsmith’s art, they were collected by the Medici throughout their time in power through purchases and donations, especially objects given by Pope Clement VII and Pope Leo X, both members of the family, and later donated to the parish.

Reliquaries

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.

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).

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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.