Piazza della Santissima Annunziata is located in the historic
center of Florence, north of Piazza del Duomo, and is dominated by
the basilica of Santissima Annunziata,
one of the most important sacred buildings in Florence, as well as
the mother house of the order of the Servi di Maria. Although
defined over the course of several centuries, the square today shows
a unitary character and, among the Florentine squares, it is the one
that best expresses the ideals of the Renaissance city.
Object of an early urban intervention, in which some of the greatest
Renaissance architects took part, the square is today of great
stylistic harmony, with porticoes on three sides, and with two twin
palaces on the fourth, which frame the view of Brunelleschi's dome
through the straight via dei Servi. In the center of the square is
the equestrian monument to Ferdinando I de' Medici, by Giambologna
and Pietro Tacca, while further back, in a symmetrical position, are
the two fountains of sea monsters, a masterpiece by Tacca and
Mannerist sculpture in general.
The denomination, with slight variations, is attested from the second
half of the thirteenth century, in strict reference to the primitive
church founded in the same period by the Servants of Mary (traditionally
in the year 1233), near an oratory dedicated to the Madonna which was
intended to be built at the time of Matilde of Canossa as a votive
offering for the end of the siege of Henry IV in 1081; in a state of
abandonment, Bishop Ardengo Trotti was asked by the seven young
Florentines. At the time, the area was open countryside and outside the
walls, in an area called "Cafaggio", i.e. a wooded and grazing area that
reached up to the slopes of the Fiesole hill. In 1250 the construction
of a larger basilica was started. The church, which also houses a
miraculous Annunciation painted according to legend by an angel
(traditionally referred to as 1252), became a destination for
pilgrimages and processions and it was soon necessary to expand the
church and the square, as well as create a convenient connection route
towards the centre, via de' Servi (1255/1256). In 1299 the Municipality
assigned 400 florins to the friars for the purchase of the land in
front, on which to create a square.
The influx of pilgrims and
people from the countryside, especially during the solemn festivity of 8
September, meant that the church was equipped with a short portico on
the facade (the current one is later), contrary to the tradition of
smooth facades of Florentine churches. However, the decisive moment for
his qualification of the urban area was the intervention of Filippo
Brunelleschi, to whom we owe the loggia of the Spedale degli Innocenti,
erected in a still formless space starting from 1419, which served as a
measure for all subsequent interventions: between 1447 and 1452 Antonio
Manetti built a first portico with one arch in front of the facade of
the church; starting from 1516 Antonio da Sangallo the Elder and then
Baccio d'Agnolo erected the portico mirroring Brunelleschi's one, the
loggia of the Servi di Maria; between 1599 and 1601 Giovanni Battista
Caccini enlarged the portico of the basilica at the expense of the Pucci
family, as the inscription and the coats of arms affixed recall.
To enhance the beauty of the space, some exceptional elements of street
furniture were then placed in the first half of the seventeenth century.
The equestrian monument to Grand Duke Ferdinando I was placed in the
center, a late work by Giambologna completed by Pietro Tacca in 1608.
Tacca also designed the two fountains with bronze marine figures on the
sides (1629) originally made to decorate the monument to Ferdinando I
de' Medici in Livorno and mounted here in 1643.
With these
interventions, the square assumed its current characteristics and, in
1684, Ferdinando Leopodo del Migliore was able to define the square in
his guide to Florence as "square and very wide on each side, decorated
in the lateral parts with a colonnade with loggias, from which she
receives the semblance of the theatre". Thus Giovanni Fanelli: "Also
taking advantage of the particular condition of the site - a depression
corresponding to a stretch of the ancient course of the Mugnone -,
raising the sides of the square on high steps, trying to diminish the
presence and importance of the accesses from the other roads ,
Brunelleschi and the architects who came after him wanted to define the
square as a perfect world in itself, concentrating the relationships
with the urban context in the 'telescope' of via dei Servi aimed at the
dome of the Cathedral, to which it would correspond, a few decades later
, the dome of the Santissima Annunziata.
The elevation at which
the loggia degli Innocenti is set corresponds to the height of the
horizon of whoever is in the square. Set above this line of the horizon,
the sequence of arches does not count as the longitudinal development of
an infinite rhythm but as the calculated completed development of the
ideal unity that is always equal to itself. The distance between the
columns is equal to 10 fathoms and the height of the column is 9
fathoms; each span is thus substantially a cubic entity concluded by a
hemisphere (ribbed vault): an ideal module. The loggia is an external
space with respect to the hospital in which it is contained; it is an
internal space seen from the square, as it is contained within the plane
of the façade".
The square is to be considered of exceptional
historical and artistic importance, which would lead to greater care and
maintenance of the space: although the difficulty in finding alternative
solutions is evident, it is essential to eliminate the traffic of the
urban lines that pass in front of the basilica (also for damage caused
by vibrations to the building) along the axis of via Cesare Battisti and
via della Colonna.
1-2 Palazzo Budini Gattai
The palace, built on the oldest houses
of the Ricci family purchased by the Grifoni in 1549, who had a palace
built for Bartolomeo Ammannati. The building was born on two floors, the
third was added between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Between 1710 and 1772, renovation and expansion interventions on the
property are documented, which saw, among other things, the completion
of the facade on the square and the pictorial decoration of the chapel
(c. 1740) entrusted to Giovanni Domenico Ferretti. The factory, which
passed from the Grifoni to the Riccardi in the year 1800, came to the
Mannelli in 1847, from whom it passed to the Antinori and, in 1889 to
the Budini Gattai. The latter, shortly after the purchase, promoted a
renovation of the building directed by the architect Giuseppe Boccini
(1891-1892). The two-flight staircase and the pictorial decorations in
the rooms on the noble floor date back to this construction site,
entrusted to Augusto Burchi flanked by Giulio Bargellini and Galileo
Chini (1892-1894), which still today represent one of the most
significant examples of the housing taste of the ruling classes
Florentines around 1900.
3 Oratory of San Francesco Poverino
In 1911 the association of San Francesco Poverino converged here, whose
oratory in via San Zanobi had been destroyed in 1844. Numerous works of
art and furnishings that belonged to the three companies are still
preserved there, including works by Pseudo Pierfrancesco Fiorentino,
Jacopo Vignali , Jacopo da Empoli, Baccio del Bianco, Poppi, etc.
4-5-6-7 Loggia of the Servants of Mary
It was designed as a
stylistic completion of the square at the beginning of the sixteenth
century by Baccio d'Agnolo and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. The "S"
twisted in the medallions are precisely the symbol of the Servants of
Mary. Today it houses a hotel
8-9-10 Basilica of the Santissima
Annunziata
Built on an oratory traditionally founded in 1233 by seven
young Florentines who had founded the company of the Servants of Mary in
honor of the Virgin, the current basilica was rebuilt by Michelozzo in
1444, with numerous subsequent interventions throughout the 17th
century.
9b National Archaeological Museum (Palazzo della
Crocetta)
Since November 2006 the ancient entrance of the National
Archaeological Museum of Florence has been reopened in Piazza Santissima
Annunziata, in use until the Flood of Florence. Thanks to a very long
restoration, the rooms on the ground floor of the building were
reopened, which were destined to host temporary exhibitions.
11-12-13 Hospital of the Innocents
It dates back to the early
fifteenth century and was the first European orphanage, and represents
the first Renaissance-style building: Brunelleschi was in fact inspired
by the classical models that he had had the opportunity to see and study
in Rome, while a closer cue was probably given by the Gothic loggias ,
but with round arches of the Signoria and Bigallo. Under the loggias of
the hospital, the famous wheel is still visible where it was possible to
abandon newborns anonymously by making them enter a cavity that was
opened by turning the wooden wheel. The foundlings were given the
surname "Innocenti", still widespread in Florence today. Today it houses
a museum, but also some Unicef offices, still partly continuing its
traditional function. The hospital was modified in the sixteenth century
when the arch that overlooks via della Colonna was opened, on the vault
of which the eternal Father was frescoed with the innocent martyr saints
by Giovanni di Francesco del Cervelliera (1549).
14 Palace of the
Two Fountains
It is a building with a relatively recent facade, which
repeats, while simplifying them, the shapes and colors of the nearby
Palazzo Grifoni. In reality, it should be an ancient building,
reconfigured between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of
the 20th century to form an adequate backdrop for the square. The front
presents a design of a certain complexity which is accompanied by a
certain care in the choice of materials. It is currently occupied by an
accommodation facility.
In the center stands the equestrian monument to Grand Duke Ferdinando
I, a late work by Giambologna completed by his pupil Pietro Tacca in
1608 after his death. It was the crowning achievement of the Grand
Duke's dream of being remembered for his exploits like his father Cosimo
I, to whom he had had a similar statue dedicated a few decades earlier,
also by Giambologna in Piazza della Signoria. The work was cast with
bronze from the cannons of Turkish galleys, won by the Knights of the
Military Order of Santo Stefano, built to fight the pirates who infested
the Mediterranean on the initiative of the Medici family.
Tacca
is also responsible for the two bronze fountains with sea monsters,
built in 1629 with the collaboration of the students Bernardino Radi and
Francesco Maria Bandini, masterpieces of Mannerist sculpture of rare
beauty and formal balance. The fountains were originally supposed to
decorate the monument to Ferdinando I of Livorno, but aroused the
admiration of the Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici who therefore
ordered their placement in the center of the Florentine square.
Presumably due to the presence of the statue and the two fountains,
the square was not used, as in the case of the squares of Santa Croce
and Santa Maria Novella, for games and tournaments which required
completely free spaces.
However, the place was and in part still
is the fulcrum of some festivals and markets particularly felt in the
city, starting with the feast of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary
(March 25) which coincided with the Florentine New Year's Eve and which
therefore assumed both religious and civil characteristics, and that of
the Nativity of Mary (September 8). On this occasion a real market was
held in the square and large crowds flocked in pilgrimage to the
miraculous image of the Santissima Annunziata, bringing votive gifts
such as waxes and precious objects. The exclusively Florentine festival
of Rificolona, which falls on September 7, on the eve of the day
dedicated to the Nativity of the Virgin, is probably also linked to the
religious pilgrimage. In fact, it is probable that the particular paper
lanterns of various shapes, called rificolone, originate from the
torches and lanterns that pilgrims from the countryside used to light
their way. The word rificolona, on the other hand, would derive from a
corruption of the word "fierucolone" or "ficolone", with which the
peasant women who came to the city for the fair were nicknamed.
Today the ancient Epiphany market still takes place there.