Palazzo Vecchio is located in Piazza della Signoria in Florence
and is the seat of the Municipality. It represents the best
synthesis of the city's fourteenth-century civil architecture and is
one of the best-known civic buildings in the world.
Originally called Palazzo dei Priori, it was later identified in the
15th century as Palazzo della Signoria, from the name of the main
body of the Republic of Florence; in 1540 it became "Palazzo
Ducale", when Duke Cosimo I de' Medici made it his residence;
finally the name Vecchio when, in 1565, the Grand Duke Cosimo I
elected Palazzo Pitti as his palace (although the court was
officially transferred there in 1588 by the Grand Duke Ferdinando).
From 1865 to 1871 it was the seat of the Parliament of the
Kingdom of Italy, while today it houses the Mayor of Florence and
various municipal offices. There is also a museum, which allows you
to visit the magnificent rooms where, among others, Agnolo Bronzino,
Ghirlandaio, Giorgio Vasari worked, and where works by Michelangelo
Buonarroti, Donatello, Verrocchio are exhibited.
The building
gradually expanded towards the east, occupying an entire block and
lengthening the initial fourteenth-century parallelepiped up to
quadruple its size, with a plan that resembles a trapezoid of which
the facade is only the shorter side. On the main ashlar facade, the
Arnolfo Tower is one of the emblems of the city.
Pre-existing
In the ancient Roman city of Florentia, the ancient
Roman theater was located at this point, which had a semicircular stalls
towards Piazza della Signoria and the scene more or less along the
current Via dei Leoni.
In the ongoing excavations (which began in
the early 2000s) a series of rooms were excavated in the basement,
without affecting the load-bearing masonry, which have brought to light
various remains from different eras. Among the most interesting are
three rooms, accessible to the public since December 2008, where traces
of the floors of the theater stage were found, with a piece of column
that must have broken when the stage was demolished. Were then excavated
later remains of wells, coins, amphorae and jewels and a skeleton of a
child, which should date back to the first century (studies are in
progress).
In the early Middle Ages the area was densely built
up, with houses and tower-houses very similar to those still visible in
the quadrilateral beyond the nearby via della Condotta.
The new
Palazzo dei Priori
In the second half of the thirteenth century the
city of Florence decided to build a palace in order to ensure effective
protection for the magistrates in those turbulent times, and at the same
time celebrate their importance. The palace is attributed to Arnolfo di
Cambio, architect of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the
Basilica of Santa Croce, who began building it in 1299, according to
some, inspired by the already existing Palazzo dei Priori in Volterra.
The palace at the time, called Palazzo dei Priori, was built on the
ruins of the Palazzo dei Fanti and the Palazzo dell'Esecutore di
Giustizia, already owned by the Ghibelline family of the Uberti,
expelled in 1266. It incorporated the ancient Torre della Vacca using it
as part bottom of the tower in the facade. This is the reason why the
rectangular tower (94 m) is not in the center of the building. After
Arnolfo's death in 1302, the palace was completed by two other masters,
in 1314. Furthermore, in the basement, the ancient cavities, called
burelle, under the arches of the Roman theater of Florentia were used as
prisons.
From 26 March 1302 (at the beginning of the year
according to the Florentine calendar) the palace was the seat of the
Signoria, i.e. of the city council headed by the Priors, and of the
Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, something between a mayor and a head of
government with an office which, however, lasted for a very short
period. The first construction phase ended in 1315.
The current
building is the result of other successive constructions and extensions,
completed between the XIII and XVI centuries. The Duke of Athens,
Gualtieri VI of Brienne began the first modifications in the period
(1342-1343), enlarging it towards via della Ninna and giving it the
appearance of a fortress. Other important changes took place in the
period 1440-60 under Cosimo de' Medici, with the introduction of
Renaissance-style decorations in the Sala dei Dugento and the first
courtyard by Michelozzo. The Salone dei Cinquecento was built instead
from 1494 during the republic of Savonarola.
The residence of the
Duke
Between 1540 and 1550 it was the home of Cosimo I de' Medici,
who commissioned first Battista del Tasso and then Vasari to further
enlarge the palace to accommodate the needs of the ducal court. The
construction site was the place of fundamental experiences for many
artists, including Livio Agresti and Pier Paolo Menzocchi.
The
building thus doubled its volume due to the additions on the back. The
last expansion dates back to the end of the 16th century, when Bernardo
Buontalenti arranged the rear part as it appears today.
The name
was officially changed when in 1565 Cosimo moved to Palazzo Pitti and
called the previous residence Palazzo Vecchio, while Piazza della
Signoria kept its name. Vasari also built a path, the Vasari Corridor,
which still today connects Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti by crossing
the Arno on the Ponte Vecchio. Cosimo I also moved government
administration and magistracies to the adjacent Uffizi.
Contemporary history
The palace gained new importance when it was the
seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy in the period
1865-71, when Florence became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.
The town hall of the German city of Fürth, built between 1840 and
1844 to a design by Friedrich Bürklein, aims to imitate the Palazzo
Vecchio in Florence. The architect Gino Coppedè, born in Florence in
1866, was also inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio for the construction of
the Mackenzie Castle in Genoa.
Between 1950 and 1960 restoration
work was carried out in some areas of the building, including the
sixteenth-century hall and Francesco I's studiolo, by Giulio Cirri.
Most of Palazzo Vecchio is used as a museum, but it has remained the
symbol of local government, hosting the headquarters of the Municipality
of Florence, the Mayor and the city council.
The main facade gives the impression of solidity also thanks to the
external rusticated ashlar finish in pietraforte. It is divided into
three main floors by string course frames, which underline two rows of
neo-Gothic marble mullioned windows with trefoil arches, added in the
eighteenth century to replace the original ones.
The old part is
crowned by a projecting balcony supported by corbels on round arches and
characterized by Guelph-type battlements (with a squared top), while the
tower has Ghibelline battlements ("dovetail"). Each corbel was decorated
with a sculpted human or animal head, some of which are still visible in
bronze. Some of these arches are equipped with machicolations which
could be used, for defensive purposes, to throw boiling oil or stones on
any invaders.
In the four corners of the gallery there were as
many niches with stone marzocchi. The French door and the small terrace
are late additions.
On the right corner of the façade a profile
is summarily sculpted: its origins are not known, but popular tradition
indicates Michelangelo as the author, who would have liked to
immortalize a man sentenced to death, sculpting an instantaneous
portrait even working with his back turned, or one of his debtor who
particularly gripped him. The only certain thing is that it was not a
thing for everyone to be able to sculpt with impunity on the most
important building in the city and that the author had to be someone to
whom the guardhouse could turn a blind eye.
Arengario and
entrance
The raised platform in front of the building is the
so-called arengario or aringhiera, an area that takes its name from the
"railing" that once enclosed it and which was eliminated during the
19th-century restorations by Giuseppe Del Rosso. The staircase itself
also turned on the left side, but was cut with Renaissance
interventions. From this place the priors attended the city ceremonies
on the square. During the government of the Duke of Athens (1342-1343)
the railing was further defended by two front doors and other elements.
Since the fifteenth century it was decorated with sculptures which, if
not replaced by copies or slightly moved, can still be admired.
The oldest are the Marzocco and the Judith and Holofernes (about
1455-60), both works by Donatello, replaced by copies due to their
preciousness (the Marzocco is kept in the Bargello, the Judith inside
the palace). These statues were once located further up the square.
Michelangelo's David marked the entrance from 1504, the year of its
completion, until 1873 when it was moved to the Academy. A copy has been
in place of him since 1910, flanked by Hercules and Cacus by Baccio
Bandinelli, a sculptor who was much criticized for his "impertinence" in
juxtaposing a work by him with Michelangelo's masterpiece.
In
front of the portal jambs are the two marble Termini, the male one by
Vincenzo de' Rossi and the female one by Baccio Bandinelli which reflect
a typology of classical statuary: in ancient times they supported a
chain which served to bar the entrance.
Above the main portal
stands a decorative marble frontispiece dated 1528, with the sunburst
monogram of Christ the King. In the centre, flanked by two lions, is the
trigram of Christ, surrounded by the inscription Rex Regum et Dominus
Dominantium (Jesus Christ, King of King and Lord of Lords). This
inscription, commissioned by the standard-bearer Niccolò Capponi in
1551, dates back to the time of Cosimo I and replaced the previous
inscription inspired by Savonarola: even if not all sources agree on the
ancient transcription, it must have sounded something like Iesus
Christus rex florentini populi S.P. electus decree, meaning that Christ
was the ruler of the city and that (implied) no one would ever have
dared to "overthrow" Christ by taking command of Florence. Cosimo I had
it subtly replaced with that presence, indicating Christ, yes King, but
King of kings and Lord of lords.
Another bronze plaque
commemorates the plebiscite of March 15, 1860 which allowed the union of
Tuscany to the Kingdom of Italy.
Under the arches of the balcony in 1353 a series of coats of arms
were painted which symbolize some particular aspects of the Florentine
Republic and still today they photograph, in a certain sense, the
fourteenth-century political situation.
The series of nine coats
of arms is repeated twice on the facade and two coats of arms are also
found on the left side.
The first encountered from the left is
the red cross on a white field, which represents the insignia of the
Florentine people and signals public things in Florence.
Subsequently we come across the red Florentine lily on a white field,
the current symbol of the city, adopted by the Guelphs at the time of
the expulsion of the Ghibellines in 1266, reversing the Ghibelline coat
of arms, painted a little further on, which represents a white lily (as
can be found numerous in the Florence countryside) on a red field.
The subsequent coat of arms started vertically between white and red
and represents the link between Fiesole (whose coat of arms is in a
white field) and Florence (whose ancient coat of arms was in a red
field, in fact), which the Florentines have always remembered as a
relationship of mother/daughter.
The fourth coat of arms are the
gold keys on a red field and represents loyalty to the papacy. The fifth
symbolizes the Signoria, with the writing Libertas in gold on a blue
field, the motto of the city's freedom and independence.
The
following red eagle on a white field clutching a green dragon is the
coat of arms of the Guelph party. The Guelph cities were characterized
in the Middle Ages by a white/red coat of arms (Florence, Lucca,
Pistoia...), while the Ghibelline ones generally had black and white as
colors (Siena and Arezzo).
After the aforementioned white lily on
a red field, the ancient Ghibelline symbol of the city, we find the coat
of arms of the King of France, the three golden lilies on a blue field,
of Charles and Robert of Anjou, the first foreign podestas of the city.
The last coat of arms, starting with black/gold bands and golden lilies
on a blue field, is the coat of arms of Ludovico d'Angiò, king of
Hungary. All these foreign figures were considered protectors and
guarantors of the independence of the Republic.
On the left side
above the corbels of the arches there are also some bronze zoomorphic
figures. These sculptures, formerly in pietra serena, are lion heads and
other figures.
The tower of Palazzo Vecchio was built around 1310 when the body of
the building was almost finished. Placed on the façade (probably
inspired by the Castello dei Conti Guidi in Poppi), it rests only
partially on the underlying walls, presenting the front side completely
false (i.e. protruding with respect to the underlying structures) with
an architectural solution that is both extremely daring and
aesthetically satisfying.
Approximately 94 meters high, the tower
is not centered on the facade but is decentralized towards the south
side of the same (to the right for those looking at the building from
the front) because it rests on a pre-existing tower-house that belonged
to the Foraboschi family called "della Vacca" due to the nickname given
by the Florentines to the large bell that surmounted it (the nearby
street that connects piazza della Signoria to via Por Santa Maria is
called via Vacchereccia again because of this bell). The presence of the
tower can still be distinguished today by the walled-in windows on the
part of the facade below the Arnolfo tower.
The body of the
tower, in addition to the stairs, has a small room called the
Alberghetto in which Cosimo the Elder, among others, was held prisoner
before being condemned to exile (1433) and Girolamo Savonarola before
being hanged and burned in the square on May 23, 1498.
The
balcony of the belfry, with Ghibelline merlons (dovetail), is supported
by large corbels with pointed arches, above which rests an aedicule with
round arches supported by four massive masonry columns surmounted by
leaf capitals. Three bells are attached to the cell:
La
Martinella, which calls the Florentines to a meeting,
The noon bell,
The tolling bell (the largest).
Around one of the columns you can
see the spiral staircase that allows you to climb onto the roof.
On the top there is a large vane (more than two meters high) in the
shape of a Marzocco which holds the rod surmounted by the Florentine
lily: it is a copy, the original can be admired in all its grandeur
inside of the palace.
Looking at the corbels that support the
balcony of the tower from below, one has the strange sensation that the
corner corbels rest on nothing, like small inverted pyramids: it is a
curious optical effect caused by the shadows at the corners.
The
large clock was originally built by the Florentine Nicolò Bernardo, but
replaced in 1667 by one made by Giorgio Lederle of Augusta and assembled
by Vincenzo Viviani, which is still in working order.
The Porta di Tramontana, so called due to its location to the north from where the Tramontana wind blows, is the second monumental entrance to the original fourteenth-century building. It is characterized by a tympanum with two niches where once there were two Marzocchi lions. From it you enter the armory, now used only for temporary exhibitions.
The door on the north side, near via dei Gondi, bears on the portal,
in addition to the usual sculpted coats of arms of Florence and the
Popolo, a small crenellated door inlaid in polychrome marble, the coat
of arms of the Customs. In fact, from here one could access the customs
offices which had their warehouses in the basement of the building, and
which still gives its name to the so-called courtyard of the customs.
Other doors
On the side of via dei Leoni there is a large portal
created by Bernardo Buontalenti during the works of the last extensions
of the palace (1549, completed by Ammannati in 1596). It features a
rustic draft and a large Medici coat of arms.
The small door on
via della Ninna instead dates back to the time of the Duke of Athens,
who had it opened at the end of a "secret" stairway which started from
his apartments and which actually helped him at the time of his hasty
escape from city.
First courtyard
The first courtyard, which can be accessed from
the main door on Piazza della Signoria, was designed in 1453 by
Michelozzo. In 1565, on the occasion of the wedding between Francesco I
de' Medici, son of Cosimo I, and Giovanna of Austria, sister of Emperor
Maximilian II, the courtyard was transformed and embellished in an
exuberant Mannerist style based on a project by Giorgio Vasari.
In the lunettes, all around the portico, the insignia of the churches
and of the guilds of the arts and crafts of the city are reproduced,
while in the lower squares, in honor of Joanna of Austria, the city
views of the Habsburg Empire are painted, painted by Bastiano Lombardi,
Cesare Baglioni and Turino Piemontese. The cities shown are Prague,
Passau (Passago), Stein, Klosterneuburg, Graz, Freiburg im Breisgau,
Linz, Bratislava (Possonia), Vienna, Innsbruck (Eniponte), Eberndorf,
Constance, Neustadt and Hall. These works were painted dry, so the state
of conservation is not good. On this occasion, the execution of the
stucco of the columns in the courtyard was entrusted to Pier Paolo
Minoccio da Forlì.
The vaults are enriched by grotesque
decorations.
In the centre, to replace the ancient well, a
porphyry fountain was erected by Battista del Tadda and Raffaello di
Domenico di Polo, based on a design by Vasari and with the probable
collaboration of Bartolomeo Ammannati. Resting on a large octagonal
base, with the last two round steps, it has a porphyry column that
supports a marble basin. The oldest bronze statue of the Putto with
dolphin by Andrea del Verrocchio (about 1470) was placed on the fountain
in 1557, moved from 1959 to the second floor of the building and
replaced in the courtyard by a copy. This small sculpture, which rests
on a central balustrade in the shape of an amphora with gushing lion
heads, was initially located in the garden of the Medici villa in
Careggi, in the fountain of Love, at the edge of which the Neoplatonic
Academy could gather in the months summer. The water that still feeds it
today, flowing from the dolphin's nostrils, arrives right from the
Boboli hill thanks to an ancient water system of pipes.
In the
niche in front of the fountain, next to the porphyry portal opposite the
entrance, Samson and the Philistine by Pierino da Vinci, sculpted for
the court administrator Luca Martini and placed here in 1592. The
columns are richly decorated, with alternating fluting with parts worked
with gilded stucco, the work of Santi Buglioni and Lorenzo Marignolli.
The Armory Room
From the left side of the courtyard, a door leads
to the ancient Armory Room, once used as a weapons and ammunition depot
and now used for temporary exhibitions and special events. Built before
1312, it is the only room in the building to retain its primitive
structure, with cross-shaped roofs in ribbed brick and pillars in
pietraforte. During the restoration of 1910 the original plasters were
demolished and the door on the square (of Tramontana), closed in 1380,
was reopened.
Second courtyard
The second courtyard, also
known as the courtyard of the Dogana, has massive pillars built in 1494
by Cronaca to support the "salone dei Cinquecento" on the second floor.
It takes its name from the customs offices which have been located here
since the time of Leopold II of Tuscany, when they were established.
The Florentine Customs received goods from outside the Grand Duchy
and kept them in storage, waiting for the recipient to detect them
("clear the customs") by paying the relative tax. After the flood of the
Arno on November 3, 1844, the goods were severely flooded, for which
this office was moved to the San Marco casino in via Cavour, before the
judicial offices of the Court of Appeal were set up there.
The
museum ticket office and bookshop are located in the courtyard today. On
the left wall there are still three stone coats of arms dating back to
the 14th and 15th centuries and relating to Capitani del popolo.
Between the first and second courtyard is the imposing and monumental
staircase by Vasari which leads to the Salone dei Cinquecento. The
original weather vane of the tower was recently placed in front of the
entrance to this hall: it is the shape of a Marzocco with the lily of
Florence in iron. Placed on top of the tower in 1493, it was replaced in
1981 by a fiberglass copy.
Third courtyard
The third
courtyard, known as the new courtyard, already planned by Vasari, was
carried out by Bartolomeo Ammannati and Bernardo Buontalenti at the end
of the expansion towards via dei Gondi and via dei Leoni. It is open,
without arches and mainly municipal offices overlook it. The staircase
that begins here leads to the Mayor's office and to the Giunta. In
ancient times it was decorated with a loggia and external balconies that
have been lost over time.
The Salone dei Cinquecento is one of the largest and most precious
halls in Italy.
This imposing hall has a length of 54 meters and
a width of 23. It was built in 1494 by Simone del Pollaiolo, known as il
Cronaca, commissioned by Savonarola who, replacing the Medici at the
helm of Florence, wanted it as the seat of the Great Council, which was
made up of more than 1500 citizens, who gathered in rotation in groups
of 500.
It was later enlarged by Vasari, so that Cosimo I could
court in this hall. During the transformation (1555-1572) it is not
clear whether the famous incomplete paintings of Leonardo da Vinci's
Battle of Anghiari and Michelangelo's Battle of Cascina were covered or
destroyed. Of the Battle of Anghiari there is a famous copy by Rubens in
the Louvre museum, but in any case there are other copies of the two
works and sometimes the sketches.
At the time when Florence was
the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, parliamentarians gathered here
(1865-1871).
On the walls there are large frescoes describing the
battles and military successes of Florence over Pisa and Siena:
The taking of Siena,
The conquest of Porto Ercole,
The victory of
Cosimo I at Marciano in Val di Chiana,
The defeat of the Pisans at
the tower of San Vincenzo,
Maximilian of Austria attempts the
conquest of Livorno,
Pisa attacked by Florentine troops
The
ceiling is made with 39 panels built and painted by Vasari and his
workshop, representing "Important episodes from the life of Cosimo I",
the districts of the city and the city itself, with the apotheosis in
the center representing: "Scene of glorification as Grand Duke of
Florence and Tuscany".
On the north side of the hall, illuminated
by huge windows, is the mezzanine level called L'udienza, built by
Baccio Bandinelli for Cosimo I to receive citizens and ambassadors.
Above are frescoes of historic events including the one in which Pope
Boniface VIII received ambassadors and realizing they were all
Florentines uttered the famous phrase "You Florentines are the
quintessence".
The niches house sculptures by Bandinelli: in the
center the statue of Leo X (made with the help of his assistant Vincenzo
de' Rossi) and on the right the statue of Charles V crowned by Clement
VII.
Also on the walls are several sumptuous Medici tapestries
including Stories from the life of John the Baptist, taken from a fresco
by Andrea del Sarto.
The six statues along the walls representing
the Labors of Hercules are the work of Vincenzo de' Rossi.
In the
central niche (southern part of the hall) is Michelangelo's famous
marble group The Genius of Victory (1533-1534), originally prepared for
the tomb of Pope Julius II.
At the end of the hall, a small side room without windows was
created. This masterpiece, the Studiolo or Studio of Francesco I de'
Medici, was also designed by Vasari and built in the Mannerist style
(1570-1575). The walls and vaults are completely covered in paintings,
stuccos and sculptures. Many paintings are from the Vasari school and
represent the four elements: water, earth, air and fire. The portraits
of Cosimo I and his wife Eleonora di Toledo were painted by Alessandro
Allori, Bronzino's favorite pupil. The delicate bronze sculptures were
created by Giambologna and Bartolomeo Ammannati. Dismantled decades ago,
they were only rebuilt in the 20th century.
From the studiolo two
ladders lead to the older Studiolo of Cosimo I or Tesoretto.
The other rooms on the first floor are the "monumental quarters".
These rooms are richly decorated according to a program aimed at
celebrating the Medici family. They have long been used as boardrooms by
the Mayor; however, they have recently been partially made open to
tourists (Leo X's room and Clement VII's room), including the former
mayor's office.
In the Leo X district there are frescoes that
celebrate the genealogy of the Medici family, and take their name from
one of the most famous rooms, the one dedicated to the first Medici
pope. The paintings are the work of Giorgio Vasari, Giovanni Stradano
and Marco da Faenza.
The Sala di Leone X is dedicated to the pope son of Lorenzo the
Magnificent who began the fortunes of the family in the sixteenth
century leading it to consolidate its power and importance.
The
allied troops of Leo X reconquer Milan from the French are painted on
the ceiling, while the rectangular and octagonal panels depict various
episodes in the life of Leo X. Other episodes are depicted in the
monochrome frescoes, placed in the side areas of the walls.
Large
scenes are painted in the center of the walls. In the scene of Leo X's
triumphal entry into Florence, we see the appearance of Piazza della
Signoria before the construction of the Uffizi, with still the church of
San Pier Scheraggio and with the Loggia dei Lanzi without the
sculptures.
Also interesting is the fresco of the battle of San
Leo, won by Lorenzo Duke of Urbino for the pope himself. In the
background you can clearly see the fortress of San Leo, famous for
having been the prison of Cagliostro. A curiosity of the painting is
represented by the personification of a river (an old man) in the
foreground holding a large jar: water gushes from the rock in the jar,
which on closer inspection looks like a standing man urinating ( ?), an
allegory of the source of the Marecchia river.
The third wall
scene is Leo X electing his college of cardinals. The wall with the
windows is instead decorated with some Medici portraits.
At the
corners there are four niches with as many marble busts: from the left
Giuliano, duke of Nemours by Alfonso Lombardi, Lorenzo duke of Urbino by
Gino Lorenzi, Clement VII also by Lombardi and Leo X by Lorenzi.
The majestic marble fireplace is designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati; the
floor is the work of Santi Buglioni and is in white and red terracotta;
in the center the intertwined Medici rings and the partition takes up
that of the ceiling.
The Room of Cosimo the Elder presents in the center of the ceiling
the return of Cosimo from exile with his sons Piero and Giovanni (an
interesting view in the painting of Porta San Gallo with the destroyed
monastery of San Gallo). The aedicules on the sides, made to a design by
Ammannati, are decorated with episodes from the life of Cosimo and
allegories:
Departure for exile
Portrait of Piero the Gouty
(below, centre)
Cosimo reveals his origins to Santi Bentivoglio so
that he can govern Bologna
Portrait of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
Brunelleschi and Ghiberti present the model for the church of San
Lorenzo to Cosimo
Portrait of Giovanni de' Medici
Cosimo
surrounded by artists and writers
Portrait of Lorenzo the Elder
In the room of Lorenzo the Magnificent the cycle of frescoes celebrating the Medici family continues. In the center of the ceiling is a painting of Lorenzo the Magnificent receiving the homage of the ambassadors. Followed on the sides by Lorenzo at the diet of Cremona, Portrait of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, Lorenzo goes to Naples to see Ferdinand of Aragon, Portrait of Piero il Fatuo, Lorenzo among philosophers and men of letters, Portrait of Giuliano de' Medici, The taking of Sarzana and Portrait of Giovanni de' Medici.
In the center of the ceiling is the Triumph of Cosimo I in
Montemurlo. The other scenes represented are: Cosimo among the artists
of his court, Portrait of Francesco I de' Medici, Cosimo orders to help
Serravalle, Portrait of Don Pietro de' Medici, Cosimo visits the
fortifications of Elba, Portrait of Eleonora di Toledo, Election of
Cosimo I as duke of Florence and Double portrait of Giovanni and Garzia
de' Medici.
Various scenes from Cosimo's life are depicted on the
walls:
Francesco de' Medici's visit to Philip of Spain or Cosimo's
journey to Genoa to the Emperor
Route of the Turks in Piombino
Cosimo receives the Golden Fleece in the Duomo
Cosimo enters Siena
Birth of Francis I
Eleonora of Toledo leaves from Naples
Route of
Valdichiana
Arrival of Eleonora di Toledo at Poggio a Caiano
Baptism of Francis I
Taking of Porto d'Ercole
Restoration of the
castle of Florence
The next room is dedicated to Giovanni delle Bande Nere, father of
Cosimo I and the only leader of the Medici family. In the center of the
ceiling is a painting of Giovanni swimming the Po and the Adda with the
army. On the sides, from the left, are:
Giovanni defends the
Ponte Rozzo over the Ticino
Portrait of Maria Salviati
Giovanni
dalle Bande Nere kills a Spanish knight
Portrait of Giovanni di
Pierfrancesco de' Medici
Taking of Caravaggio
Portrait of Cosimo I
de' Medici as a young man
Battle of San Secondo
On the walls are
frescoed various war episodes related to Giovanni dalle Bande Nere and
portraits of Caterina Sforza (her mother) and Pierfrancesco de' Medici
(her grandfather).
Writing desk
The writing desk is a small
room adjacent to Cosimo I's room, formerly equipped with wardrobes and
desks for writing; the glass window was supposed to light up the room.
The ceiling is decorated with Caesar writing the Commentarii. The
inlaid floor is original.
The chapel is dedicated to the protectors of the Medici family, the
saints Cosma and Damiano. The ceiling is decorated with a fresco of the
Eternal in glory, while on the walls there are three monochrome
frescoes:
Episodes from the life of Saint John the Baptist
Last Supper
Fall of manna.
The altar was originally decorated by
the stupendous Madonna dell'Impannata by Raphael, now in the Palatine
Gallery of Palazzo Pitti and replaced by a copy. On the sides are San
Damiano in the features of Cosimo I and San Cosma in the features of
Cosimo the Elder. Here too the floor is original from the sixteenth
century.
The room of Clement VII is dedicated to the other Medici pope; in the
center of the ceiling Clement VII crowns Charles V. In the ovals and
rectangles around there are various scenes from the life of the pope and
of contemporary characters:
Clement appoints his nephew Ippolito
de' Medici a cardinal
Ippolito de' Medici goes to Hungary as papal
legate
Clement VII opens the Holy Door for the jubilee of 1525
Marriage of Catherine de' Medici to Henry II of France
Charles V
crowns Alessandro de' Medici duke of Florence
Return of Alexander to
Florence after the imperial appointment
Alessandro de' Medici marries
Margaret of Austria
Clement VII returns to Rome from France
Various war episodes are depicted on the walls, such as the famous Siege
of Florence in 1530, where a broad view of the well-known city was
depicted.
On the opposite side of the first floor, usually visited at the end of the museum itinerary, is the Ricetto, an environment characterized by the vault frescoed by Lorenzo Sabatini in 1565 with allegorical figures, companies and Medici and imperial coats of arms.
The Sala dei Dugento, overlooking the shelter, is the place where the municipal council meets, and for this reason it is often not open to visitors. It was originally used as a council chamber and is part of the oldest section of the building, the fourteenth-century one. It is decorated with a coffered ceiling carved with the arms of Florence, the work of Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano with assistants (1462). Furthermore, the two marble portals are the work of Baccio d'Agnolo. The tapestries created for these walls are the Stories of Joseph the Jew drawn by important Renaissance artists (Pontormo, Bronzino...).
The adjacent Sala degli Otto is a small room used as an office, which has a ceiling carved with the heads of cherubs and lilies, made in the same period as the ceilings of the Sala dei Duegento and the Sala dei Gigli on the upper floor. From here you enter a passage with an ancient staircase, where there is a lunette with an Annunciation, by Marco da Faenza, also author of the grotesque decoration of the nearby bathroom, which was part of the rooms privately inhabited by Cosimo I, distorted and largely canceled by the works of 1865 for Florence as the capital.
A monumental staircase, designed by Vasari, leads to the second
floor. This floor contains the Quarter of the Elements, once the private
area of Cosimo I and dedicated to Air, Water, Earth and Fire, and the
Quarter of Eleonora, once inhabited by Eleonora of Toledo. The
iconographic theme was elaborated by the scholar Cosimo Bartoli,
according to a celebratory program connected to that of the first floor.
Other environments
On the staircase, on the wall of the first
landing, there is the fresco of the Fires for the feast of San Giovanni
by Giovanni Stradano; the decorations on the vaults and domes of the
stairwell are by Marco da Faenza.
These apartments consist of five rooms and two loggias. Cosimo I, who
had his private apartment here, originally commissioned the construction
from Battista del Tasso, but on his death the decorations were completed
by Vasari and his workshop (above all Cristofano Gherardi known as il
Doceno and Marco da Faenza). The walls of the Halls of the Elements are
filled with allegorical frescoes.
In the first room, Hall of the
Elements, we find the allegories of the Elements Water (Birth of Venus),
Earth (First fruits of the Earth offered and Saturn), Fire (Forge of
Vulcan) and the ceiling is decorated with the allegory of Air, with in
the center Saturn that mutilates the sky. Mercury and Pluto are frescoed
between the windows. The majestic fireplace was designed by Ammannati.
In the second room, called Sala di Opi, there is a fresco with the
Triumph of the Goddess Opi (divinity sometimes identified with Cybele)
on the ceiling and the allegories of the Months along the frieze; the
floor is in white and red terracotta which echoes the partitions on the
ceiling, with the inscription dedicated to Cosimo I dated 1556 in the
centre; against the walls tortoiseshell and bronze cabinets. From the
window of this room we overlook the third courtyard.
Next is the
Sala di Cerere, which takes its name from the decoration of the ceiling
painted by Doceno (Ceres looking for Proserpina surrounded by depictions
of divinities and cherubs) and which displays some sixteenth-century
Florentine tapestries with hunting scenes based on cartoons by Giovanni
Stradano. The subsequent Scrittoio di Calliope is decorated on the
ceiling by the fresco of Calliope and the attributes of the Muses (in
the centre) and by a frieze with the exploits of Duke Cosimo I; the
window has an original stained glass window with Venus dressed up by the
Graces between Faith and Hope.
The Sala di Giove has a ceiling
with the fresco Jupiter child raised by the Nymphs and the goat Amalthea
and Florentine tapestries made from cartoons by Giovanni Stradano. The
two precious cabinets in ebony with hard stone inlays are about a
century later and come from the manufacture of the hard stone factory.
The Terrace of Giunone is actually a closed room, but, as the name
suggests, it was formerly open to the outside. It was walled up at the
time of Ferdinando I de' Medici by Bartolomeo Ammannati. The vault
depicts Juno on a chariot pulled by peacocks, Allegory of Abundance and
Allegory of the Podestà. On the walls there are frescoes with Juno,
Jupiter and Io (on the left) and Jupiter Juno and Callisto (on the
right), while in the center there is a niche where a statue of Juno was
to be found. Below, a monochrome frieze is decorated with a fountain
with a cupid, among ovals with female figures. Here was the original of
the bronze statue of the Putto with a dolphin by Verrocchio, now moved
to a smaller room on the first floor (the copy is located on the ground
floor in the original location of the fountain in the first courtyard).
Past a small frescoed room, you reach the Hall of Hercules, which
has a coffered ceiling with The Twelve Labors of Hercules (the child
Hercules strangling the snakes, in the centre, the Cretan bull, the
Lernaean hydra, the Nemean lion , Cerberus, Hercules stealing the apples
of the Hesperides, Hercules and Cacco, Hercules choking Anteoe and
Hercules killing Nessus). The room houses a 17th century ebony cabinet
inlaid with semi-precious stones. In the room of Hercules there is a
Madonna with Child and San Giovannino of uncertain attribution (some
scholars attribute it to Sebastiano Mainardi, others to Jacopo del
Sellaio or to the so-called Maestro del Tondo Miller) popularly called
Madonna dell'Ufo due to an object unidentifiable steering wheel painted
in the background sky. It is something gray that emits golden rays,
which two figurines in the background look at, and it is one of the most
cited ancient iconographic sources in the field of ufology.
The
Terrace of Saturn closes the districts of Cosimo, a beautiful panoramic
open loggia overlooking Florence, which allows a view towards the
southwest: Piazzale Michelangelo, Piazza Santa Croce with the basilica
and Forte Belvedere. The remains of the church of San Pier Scheraggio
can also be seen below. The ceiling is decorated with numerous painted
panels: Saturn devouring his children, Childhood, Youth, Old age,
Virility, Saturn lands in Lazio, Saturn and Janus build Saturnia and the
Allegories of the hours of the day, as well as the Four elements in the
corners. Here was the standard-bearer of Giambologna's little devil,
which came from Palazzo Vecchietti and is now in the Bardini Museum.
To access the Eleonora Quarter, one must go back to the Room of the
Elements and pass through the balcony facing the hall of the
Cinquecento: on one side it overlooks the hall, on the other it has
large windows, from which one can see the first stretch of the Vasari
Corridor which leaves Palazzo Vecchio to go to the Uffizi.
Even
the Eleonora district was designed by Giorgio Vasari, for the wife of
Cosimo I, Eleonora di Toledo [6]. The first room you come across is the
Green Room, so called due to the color of the walls, once decorated with
landscapes. The decorations on the ceiling, with the Medici-Toledo coat
of arms and the grotesques are the work of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio
(1540-1542). It is in this room that the access to the Vasari Corridor
is found.
On the left you enter the Scrittoio di Eleonora, with a
ceiling decorated with grotesques by Francesco Salviati (after 1545).
On the right you enter the Chapel of Eleonora, entirely frescoed by
Agnolo Bronzino (1564), with the Stories of Moses; also by Bronzino is
the great Pietà on the altar. The Chapel is accessed through a
magnificent marble door designed by Bartolomeo Ammannati.
The
following rooms overlook the oldest part of the building and were
originally used by the Priors and the Gonfaloniere, before being
renovated by Vasari with the contributions of Giovanni Stradano (for the
paintings) and Battista Botticelli (for the carvings on the ceilings).
The iconographic theme of these rooms are the lives of famous women,
whose virtues alluded to the virtues of Eleonora. Thus the Sala delle
Sabine meets, for the theme of Concordia, the Sala di Esther, for love
for the country, the Sala di Penelope, for fidelity, and the Sala di
Gualdrada for moral rigor.
The Sala delle Sabine was once used as
a waiting room for ladies waiting to be admitted to the court of
Eleonora di Toledo. The oval in the center of the ceiling is decorated
by Sabine women making peace between Roman husbands and Sabine
relatives, surrounded by four Allegories of Victories. It also contains
the Portraits of the Medici princes by Giusto Sustermans, statues of the
Florentine school and tapestries by Fevére.
The Sala di Esther
also served as a dining room and has the Coronation of Esther by
Stradano on the ceiling, with an inscription in honor of Eleonora di
Toledo in the frieze. In the ovals of the ceiling Facts from the life of
Esther and episodes from the history of the Jewish people. There are
also preserved a marble sink from the 15th century, moved from the
Palagio di Parte Guelfa in 1842, and two tapestries by Van Assel
representing Spring and Autumn.
The Sala di Penelope has on the
ceiling Penelope at the loom with other weavers and in the frieze
Stories of Ulysses alternating with Allegories of Virtue; on the sides
are four river deities and two Medici-Toledo coats of arms. On the
walls: Madonna with Child and Madonna with Child with Saint John by
Battista Botticelli. The fireplace is a neo-Renaissance replica from
1921.
The Sala della Gualdrada was for Eleonora's private room.
Gualdrada was a Florentine historical figure, who rejected the advances
of Emperor Otto IV of her by swearing allegiance to her husband. The
paintings are also by Giovanni Stradano (on the ceiling Gualdrada who
refuses to kiss the emperor, flanked by Cupids dancing with flowers and
the exploits of Cosimo I) and there is also a valuable cabinet with
inlaid semi-precious stones. The frieze is particularly interesting,
where various views of 16th-century Florence are painted, with squares,
festive scenes, games and other events, narrated with vivacity and
detail by Stradano, who was Flemish and therefore accustomed to painting
details with care. The views alternate with Allegories of Virtue.
A small side door leads to a short, narrow passage which runs
alongside the tower from the inside and which is decorated on the walls
and ceiling with portions of frescoes from the 14th-15th centuries. From
here you enter the Chapel of the Signoria or dei Priori, dedicated to
Saint Bernard, which contains a reliquary of the saint. It was also
called, in ancient times, "San Bernardo degli Uberti". Here the Priors
used to beg for divine help in carrying out their office. In this chapel
Girolamo Savonarola recited his last prayer before being burned alive in
Piazza della Signoria. It was built in 1511-1514 by Baccio d'Agnolo.
The marvelous frescoes on the walls and ceiling, imitating gold
mosaics, are the work of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (1511-1514). Of
particular interest are the Trinity with angels and cherubs on the
ceiling and the lunette with the Annunciation on the wall opposite the
altar, where the basilica of the Santissima Annunziata can be seen
before the portico in front of the church was added. In the cruciform
compartments of the ceiling are the Evangelists, and in the other
compartments Little Angels with the symbols of the Passion and biblical
writings. The other lunette shows the Apparition of the Virgin to Saint
Bernard. On the altar there is a painting representing the Holy Family
by Mariano Graziadei da Pescia, a pupil of Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, made
in place of the altarpiece never made, but commissioned at the time, by
Domenico Ghirlandaio.
The door leading to the next room is by
Baccio d'Agnolo.
The Sala dell'Udienza or Sala della Giustizia was used to host the
meetings of a Gonfaloniere di Giustizia and eight Priors. The carved,
painted and gilded ceiling is the work of Giuliano da Maiano
(1470-1476).
On the portal towards the chapel there is an
inscription in honor of Christ (1529) and is the work of Baccio
d'Agnolo. The marble portal that communicates with the Sala dei Gigli,
surmounted by the statue of Justice in the lunette, is the work of the
brothers Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano.
The large frescoes on
the walls, representing the Stories of Furio Camillo by Francesco
Salviati, with the collaboration of Domenico Romano, were painted in
1543-1545. These frescoes were an absolute novelty for Florence, as
Salviati was deeply inspired by the Roman school of Raphael, of which he
can be considered the most worthy successor.
The name of the room does not derive from the Florentine lily, but
from the fleur-de-lys, emblem of the crown of France, which is
distinguished from the Florentine coat of arms by the absence of stamens
and by the gold/blue colors instead of red/silver. The lilies are found
on the admirable coffered ceiling and on the walls, and this homage was
a thank you and a tribute of loyalty to the Anjou, protectors of the
Guelph side. This ceiling and the frieze with the Marzocchi were also
made by the brothers Benedetto and Giuliano, who also created the statue
of St. John the Baptist and putti on the opposite portal in this room.
The same brothers, with the collaboration of their master Francione,
also created the doors in wooden inlay, with the figures of Dante and
Petrarca.
The wall opposite the entrance was frescoed by Domenico
Ghirlandaio around 1482, with the Apotheosis of San Zenobi with the
deacons Eugenio and Crescenzio, the first patron saint of Florence. The
scene is embellished by a perspective illusion of the background, in
which the Cathedral can be recognized, with the original facade by
Arnolfo di Cambio and the bell tower. The lunettes on the sides depict
Brutus, Muzio Scevola and Camillus on the left and Decio, Scipio and
Cicero on the right. Medallions of Roman emperors fill the space between
the various sections of the frescoes. In the upper lunette there is a
bas-relief of the Madonna with Child.
In this room, one of
Donatello's masterpieces, Judith and Holofernes, has been on display
since 1988, previously located in Piazza della Signoria and now replaced
on site (on the Arengario of the same Palazzo Vecchio) by a copy.
The windows opening onto the adjoining rooms show that this was the
east end of the building before it was extended.
From the Hall of Lilies a door flanked by two ancient black marble
pillars leads to the Hall of Geographical Maps or the Wardrobe, or
Cabinets, where the Medici Grand Dukes kept their precious possessions.
The strictly architectural part dates back to Vasari, while the
furniture and the ceiling are the work of Dionigi Nigetti.
The
doors of the cabinets are decorated with 53 maps of scientific interest,
oil paintings by the Dominican friar Ignazio Danti (1563-1575), brother
of the sculptor Vincenzo Danti, and Stefano Bonsignori (1575-1584). They
are of notable historical interest and give an idea of the geographical
knowledge of the 16th century. Danti, followed the Ptolemaic system for
the motion of the stars, but used Mercator's new cartographic system.
At the center of the room is the famous globe Mappa mundi (which
when it was built in 1581 was the largest in the world), the work of
Buonsignori and Ignazio Danti, ruined by subsequent restorations.
The Old Chancellery is accessed from a fourteenth-century mullioned window of the Sala dei Gigli transformed into a door. This was probably Machiavelli's office when he was Secretary of the Republic. There is a polychrome terracotta bust of him from the 15th century, probably modeled after his death mask, and his famous portrait by Santi di Tito. The back wall has a bas-relief with St. George and the Dragon from Porta San Giorgio.
Also from the Sala dei Gigli you can also access the so-called Salotta, interesting for the detached fresco attributed to Orcagna which depicts the Expulsion of the Duke of Athens (coming from the destroyed Stinche prison), a real historical episode which at the time was loaded with symbolic and mythological meanings: it took place on 6 July 1343, the day of Saint Anne, who is remembered in the painting in the act of blessing the banners of the Florentines. The bas-relief with San Zenobius against the background of the Palazzo della Signoria and the city comes from the destroyed Torre dei Girolami, in via Por Santa Maria near the Ponte Vecchio.
The room was used by Cellini to restore the treasures of the Medici princes. From the small window in the wall Cosimo I spied on his assistants and officers during meetings in the Salone dei Cinquecento.
From the living room starts the steep flight of stairs that leads
to the balcony and the tower. The Hall of Flags, along the route,
created in 1886, now houses one of the most prestigious restoration
laboratories specialized in tapestries, department of the Opificio delle
Pietre Dure.
The mezzanine between the first and second floors was created by
Michelozzo in 1453 by lowering the ceilings of some rooms on the first
floor. In these rooms lived Maria Salviati, the mother of Cosimo I, and
some young princes. Today it houses the Loeser Collection, donated to
Florence by the American art critic Charles Loeser who died in 1928.
In the first room there is the Madonna and Child with the Infant
Saint John, from the school of Lorenzo di Credi, a Madonna and Child in
stucco painted in the Florentine school of the 15th century, a Madonna
in adoration of the Child with the Infant Saint John by Jacopo del
Sellaio, the Madonna with Child attributed to the Master of the
Crucifixion Griggs (15th century) and a Madonna Enthroned from the
Tuscan school of the 14th century.
A few stone steps lead to a
small room which was once Cosimo I's studio on the mezzanine, with a
window overlooking Piazza della Signoria and the remains of decorations
of birds, animals, fish and plant elements by Bacchiacca.
The
next dining room houses perhaps the most famous work in the collection,
the Portrait of Laura Battiferri (Ammannati's wife) by Agnolo Bronzino.
There are also other Mannerist works, such as the Portrait of Lodovico
Martelli by Pontormo and the Zuffa di Cavalieri (fresco sketch) by
Vasari. On either side of the fireplace are two Romanesque sculptures: a
capital with eagles (first half of the 13th century) and a crowned head
(first half of the 12th century).
In the corner room, the Madonna
and Child with the Infant Saint John from the school of Pacino di
Buonaguida (14th century), the Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint
John by Berruguete and the Madonna and Child by Pietro Lorenzetti are
exhibited. There are also a praying Angel by Tino di Camaino, from the
tomb of Bishop Orso in Santa Maria del Fiore, a Franciscan Saint, in
painted terracotta from the 15th century, a Bust of Sant'Antonino, in
painted stucco from the 15th century, a Madonna with the Child in glazed
terracotta (16th century), a Christ in the tomb, embroidered to a design
by Raffaellino del Garbo, and a Cross painted by a Sienese painter
dating back to around 1280. Above the door is a Roman mosaic with a
Pavona.
The Hall of the Golden Lilies presents a Madonna and
Child sculpted in the manner of Donatello and the same subject in the
manner of Michelozzo, while a third is by a follower of Arnolfo di
Cambio. The painting of the Madonna and Child with the Infant Saint John
is in the style of Pontormo or Bronzino. The Last Supper is by an
unknown 16th-century Venetian painter, while two groups of Warriors and
Knights by Giovan Francesco Rustici are placed above a sideboard. The
polychrome wooden sculpture depicts Saint Catherine of Siena, from the
Sienese school of the fifteenth century. The Anatomy of a Horse is a
bronze by Giuseppe Valadier. The showcase contains Autumn, a small
bronze attributed to Benvenuto Cellini, a Hercules and the Hydra in wax
by Giambologna, and a Holy family in wax copied from a work by
Michelangelo in the 16th century. Finally, on the sideboard there are
two Angels by Jacopo Sansovino, a terracotta Portrait of Cosimo I by
Vincenzo de' Rossi and a hanging painting with the Passion of Christ,
attributed to Piero di Cosimo.
The Palace is full of inscriptions and plaques that have been affixed
there over the centuries.
On the external wall, near the Biancone
fountain, there is an inscription by the Otto di Guardia e Balia which
prohibits the "improper" use of public water:
«On 30 July 1720
Dear Sirs Otto di Guardia
And nurse of the city of Florence
They
forbade qvalvnqe person from qvalsi
Will state grade or condition
that
Do not venture around this source in br
Accia venti doing
dirty things to the
Cvna wash in it inkwells cloths or other
Or
throw wood or other dirt into it
Under penalty of four ducats and the
arb
Itrium of ll ssri and all in confirmation from the other d
Decree of their magistrate of 21 August 1646»
Works already in
Palazzo Vecchio
Sandro Botticelli, Madonna of the Pomegranate, now in
the Uffizi
Donatello, David, today in the Bargello
Donatello,
marble David, now in the Bargello
Filippo Lippi, Apparition of the
Virgin to St Bernard, now in the National Gallery, London
Filippo
Lippi, Madonna and Child, now in the National Gallery in Washington
Filippino Lippi, Pala degli Otto, now in the Uffizi
Fra Bartolomeo,
Pala del Gran Consiglio, now in the San Marco Museum