Florence
Page 40
Florence in 1352. The earliest known view of the city from a fresco, Madonna della Misericordia, in the Bigallo. The campanile to the left of the Baptistery is that of San Pier Maggiore, since destroyed.
A feasting scene painted on one of the large chests known as cassoni.
A fresco of about 1365 in the Spanish Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, by Andrea di Bonaiuto. Beneath the artist's conception of the completed Duomo are the Pope and Emperor and dignitaries of the Church Militant.
A relief of sculptors at work on the Orsanmichele tabernacle of the Maestri di Pietra e di Legname by Nanni di Banco, c. 1415.
Early-fourteenth-century grain merchants selling their goods in a shop and in the market; from a codex in the Biblioteca Laurenziana.
Bankers sitting behind their counter, or banco, which is covered by a carpet, a symbol of their distinction as members of the Arte del Cambio.
The first realistic depiction of Florence, showing it enclosed by the walls built between 1299 and 1333. This painting is a faithful nineteenth-century copy of a woodcut map of the late fifteenth century.
Fifteenth-century costumes, the ladies' dresses with long trains in defiance of the sumptuary laws, as depicted on the Adimari cassone in the Accademia.
The dining-room of the Palazzo Davanzati, the house of a rich merchant built in the middle of the fourteenth century and acquired by Bernardo Davanzati in 1578. It takes its name, the Sala dei pappagalli, from the parrot motif of the lower part of the wall decorations.
Ghirlandaio's fresco in the Sassetti Chapel at Santa Trinita shows the Loggia dei Lanzi in the background and, to the left, the Palazzo della Signoria as it was in the fifteenth century, before the present stairway replaced the dais.
A visit to a sick mother, who is being attended to by a doctor. From a fresco by the school of Domenico Ghirlandaio.
Part of a mural by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – 94) in the Sassetti Chapel in Santa Trinita showing Lorenzo the Magnificent with Francesco Sassetti, the general manager of the Medici Bank, on his left and Antonio Pucci on his right. The boy is Sassetti's son, Federico.
Lorenzo il Magnifico Admiring Michelangelo's Faun; Lorenzo is surrounded by artists who also enjoyed his patronage. A posthumous portrait by Ottavio Vannini in the Museo degli Argenti.
A detail from Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi showing what is supposed to be a self-portrait of the artist.
The marriage in 1533 of Caterina de' Medici to Henri de Valois, son of Francis I, by Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli. Giulio de' Medici, Pope Clement VII, who arranged the match and performed the ceremony, stands between them.
A joust in the Piazza Santa Croce in the sixteenth century by Giovanni Stradano.
A white onyx cameo in the Museo degli Argenti by Antonio De' Rossi (c. 1575) showing the Grand Duke Cosimo I, his wife and children.
A relief in semiprecious stones, enamelled gold, diamonds and sapphires of the Grand Duke Cosimo II (1590 – 1621) from the centre part of a dismantled altar frontal. Through the window can be seen the Campanile and Duomo in pietre dure with the cathedral's façade as yet unfinished.
The Festa degli Omaggi in the Piazza della Signoria, one of numerous festivals held in Florence in the time of the Grand Dukes.
A cassone panel from the Palazzo Pitti showing the perspective of an ideal city in wood inlay.
A table top in pietre dure by Giuseppe Zocchi (1711 – 67).
L‘Architettura, a work in pietre dure by Giuseppe Zocchi.
Visitors to Florence in the early 1760s being introduced to Sir Horace Mann, the British Minister, who stands on the far right. A caricature by Thomas Patch, whose bust is in the corner and whose face is shown in the animal pictures on the wall.
Caption
The Tribuna of the Uffizi by Johann Zoffany, 1772, in the Royal Collection. (For the identification of the men in this picture, see note 4, Chapter 18.)
A demonstration in the Piazza Pitti in 1847 when the movement for a united Italy was gaining force.
A firework display on the Arno by Giovanni Signorini.
Italian flags paraded through the Piazza della Signoria in 1860, the year in which the people of Tuscany voted for the unification of the Grand Duchy with Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II.
The monument to Dante being erected in the Piazza Santa Croce in 1865, from the painting by V. Giacomelli.
Annexation of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany to the Kingdom of Savoy. Late-nineteenth-century painting by Francesco Mochi.
The Ponte Vecchio in 1905 by R.C. Goff.
NOTES ON BUILDINGS AND WORKS OF ART
In the following notes, buildings printed in capitals have a separate note to themselves.
Since they are so capricious, no attempt has been made to indicate opening times. The latest (the fifth) edition of the Blue Guide: Florence by Alta Macadam provides as reliable an indication of these as can be found. This book, Eve Borsook's Companion Guide to Florence (now also in its fifth edition), and the Italian Touring Club's guide, Firenze e dintorni, give more details about buildings and works of art than room can be found for in these brief notes.
CHAPTER 1 (pages 1–4)
1. The façade of San Miniato al Monte is, like that of the BAPTISTERY, of white and greenish marble. Some of its architectural features were adapted by Brunelleschi for his own designs, as for instance the marble door surrounds. The large interior has, unusually for Tuscany, a raised chancel over the crypt. The marbles covering the columns and walls are nineteenth-century additions, but the restored open-frame roof dates from 1322. The nave pavement of marble inlay was carved in 1207 with the signs of the zodiac.
The Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal was added on to the north wall in the fifteenth century. Designed by Antonio Manetti, Brunelleschi's pupil and biographer, in honour of Cardinal Jacopo di Lusitania, who died in Florence in 1459 aged twenty-five, the chapel contains an Annunciation by Alesso Baldovinetti above a throne left empty by the young cardinal's death. The tomb of the cardinal was carved by Antonio and Bernardo Rossellino (the marble effigy was modelled after a death-mask); the five terracotta tondi on the ceiling are by Luca della Robbia.
The Cappella del Crocifisso was executed by Michelozzo to house a miraculous crucifix, which was later moved to SANTA TRINITA. Its terracotta coffering is by Luca della Robbia and the late-fourteenth-century altarpiece-cum-cupboard is by Agnolo Gaddi. The chapel is decorated with the family emblems of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, who commissioned it. Spinello Aretino painted the walls of the sacristy, built in 1387, with scenes from the life of St Benedict. The campanile was built in 1523 to Baccio d'Agnolo's design after the collapse of the original. Michelangelo saved it when Florence was besieged by covering it up with mattresses. A Benedictine foundation, San Miniato al Monte was taken over in 1373 by Olivetans, an independent branch of the order, who are still here in the adjacent convent. The nearby church of San Salvatore al Monte was completed in 1504 to the designs of Simone del Pollaiuolo, Il Cronaca.
2. The name Florentia is also said to be derived from Florinus, a Roman general who died in the assault upon the Etruscan town of Fiesole; from Fluentia, confluence of the rivers Arno and Mugnone; or from florens, rich in flowers. The lily, the emblem of the commune of Florence, is the Christian symbol of purity. The Guelph city's coat of arms featured a red lily on a white ground, the Ghibelline's a white lily on a red ground. Both these coats of arms can be seen below the gallery on the west façade of the PALAZZO DELLA SIGNORIA.
3. Via Porta Rossa extends from the PIAZZA SANTA TRINITA to the PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA. It has borne this name since the early thirteenth century. The Porta Rossa, ‘the Red Gate’, long since demolished, gave on to what is now the Via del Parione by the church of SANTA TRINITA. On the south side is the PALAZZO BARTOLINI-SALIMBENI. The PALAZZO DAV-ANZATI is at No. 9, the MERCATO NUOVO at the eastern end. The Hotel Porta Rossa, which occupies a sixteenth-century palace once owned by the Bartolini-Salimbeni, opened as the Albergo Porta Rossa in the middle of the
nineteenth century.
4. Via de' Condotta, an extension of VIA PORTA ROSSA, north of the PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA, was formerly known as Via dei Librai because of the stationers and booksellers who were in business here. One or two such businesses remain.
5. Via de' Cerretani takes its name from an influential family which settled in Florence in the twelfth century. The family died out in the eighteenth century.
6. Now one of Florence's smartest shopping streets, Via Tornabuoni extends northward from the PONTE SANTA TRINITA to Piazza Antinori. The palaces in the street include the immense PALAZZO STROZZI, PALAZZO BUONDELMONTI and PALAZZO BARTOLINI-SALIMBENI. The well-preserved Palazzo Spini-Feroni, at the southern end, was built for Geri degli Spini in the 1280s. The Palazzo Minerbetti at No. 3 is of the late fourteenth century; the Palazzo Strozzi del Poeta (Giaconi) at No. 5 was rebuilt in the 1620s by Gherardo Silvani; the Palazzo del Circolo dell'Unione (No. 7), with a bust of the Grand Duke Francesco I by Giambologna over the doorway, has been attributed to Giorgio Vasari, the Palazzo Giacomini-Larderel (No. 19) to Giovanni Antonio Dosio, the handsome Palazzo Antinori at the northern end to Giuliano da Maiano. This was built in the 1460s and has been owned by the Antinori since 1506. The Antinori, who seem to have come to Florence
San Miniato al Monte
BAPTISTERY
from Lucca, were rich silk merchants and bankers.
The Antinori family chapel, which contains reliefs by the school of Filippo Lippi, is in the nearby seventeenth-century church of San Gaetano (Santi Michele e Gaetano). One of the most important churches in seventeenth-century Florence, it was built between 1604 and 1649. The late-seventeenth-century façade is by Pier Francesco Silvani and his son, Gherardo, who, with Matteo Nigetti, created the Baroqueinterior. Giovanni Battista Foggini carved the marble statues. In the first chapel on the south side is a terracotta Virgin by Andrea della Robbia. The bronze crucifix on the east wall of the choir chapel is by Giovanni Francesco Susini. In the north transept are works by Giovanni Biliverti.
7. Via del Proconsolo, formerly Via dei Cartolai, is, like VIA CONDOTTA, in an area for long occupied by stationers, illustrators and booksellers. It links the Piazza San Firenze and the Piazza del Duomo. The BADIA FIORENTINA and the BARGELLO are at the southern end, the PALAZZO NONFINITO and the PALAZZO PAZZI-UARATESI opposite each other on the corner of BORGO DEGLI ALBIZZI.
8. The medieval buildings in the Piazza Peruzzi and Via dei Bentaccordi, some of which bear the Peruzzi family emblem of pere (‘pears’, a pun on their name), still follow the curve of the Roman amphitheatre. The fourteenth-century Palazzo Peruzzi has been reconstructed. The Peruzzi Chapel in SANTA CROCE has murals by Giotto and his assistants. The family, extremely successful bankers who came to Florence from Rome, also paid for the Sacristy in Santa Croce. From time to time they let the underground chambers of the amphitheatre to the Commune for use as a prison.
9. The BAPTISTERY, dedicated to the Florentines' patron saint, John the Baptist, is perhaps their most cherished building. The Arte della Calimala was responsible for its upkeep and provided white and green marble for its facing from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. Donatello and Michelozzo ingeniously employed the massive granite columns which run right round the interior to their advantage: carved curtains are gathered to the sides of two columns to reveal the marble and bronze TOMB OF BALDASSARRE COSSA. The pavement and vault are decorated with thirteenth-century mosaics; so is the great eight-ribbed dome, which is divided into four circles illustrating stories from the Book of Genesis and from the lives of St John the Baptist, Christ and Joseph and his brothers. Over the apse is a Last Judgement with a Christ over twenty-five feet tall.
For the DOORS see Chapter 7, notes 1 and 2, and Chapter 5, note 16.
10. Via delle Terme extends from the PIAZZA SANTA TRINITA to VIA POR SANTA MARIA. The PALAZZO BARTOLINI-SALIMBENI and PALAZZO BUONDELMONTI are at the western end, the PALAZZO DI PARTE GUELFA at the eastern end. Between them, on the north side, is the fifteenth-century Palazzo Canacci with grisaille decoration beneath a splendid loggia and the family emblem of chains, a visual pun on their name.
11. Via del Campidoglio is north of the PIAZZA DELLA REPUBBLICA, extending westwards from Via dei Pescioni to Via Brunelleschi.
12. At No. 3 Via Capaccio is the Palazzo dell'Arte della Seta. The guild has had its headquarters on this site since the end of the fourteenth century. The guild's emblems can be seen on the façade surrounded by cherubs.
13. Via Calimala extends from the MERCATO NUOVO to the PIAZZA DELLA REPUBBLICA. The PALAZZO DELL‘ARTE DELLA LANA is opposite the back of ORSANMICHELE. Via del Corso is also an old Roman way. It runs from Via de' Calzaiuoli to VIA DEL PROCONSOLO. SANTA MARGHERITA IN SANTA MARIA DE' RICCI and the PALAZZO SALVIATI are on the north side.
CHAPTER 2 (pages 5–12)
1. This early church which stood on the site of the present SAN LORENZO is believed to have been consecrated in 393. Probably the next oldest church in Florence is Santa Felicita between the PONTE VECCHIO and the PITTI PALACE. The first church on this site dates back to the late fourth or early fifth century. It was reconstructed in the eleventh century and again in 1739 by Ferdinando Ruggieri. The church is notable chiefly for the Capponi Chapel, which Ruggieri left largely intact. The Barbadori family commissioned the chapel, probably from Brunelleschi. After the exile of the Barbadori, their rights were assigned to the Capponi, for whom Pontormo executed his Annunciation fresco, Entombment altarpiece, and, with Bronzino, the Four Evangelists in the roundels. In the sacristy is a Sacra Conversazione by Taddeo Gaddi. From the Piazza Santa Felicita, where a granite column was erected in 1381 to mark the site of Florence's first Christian cemetery, the Costa San Giorgio leads to the church of San Giorgio sulla Costa. This little Vallombrosan church has a fine Baroque interior by Foggini, completed in 1705. Giotto's Madonna and Child with Saints, now in the UFFIZI, came from here.
2. The Column of St Zenobius was erected in Piazza San Giovanni in 1384.
3. Remnants of Santa Reparata were uncovered in the 1960s beneath the DUOMO. The excavations, revealing architectural fragments and pieces of mosaic pavements, can be approached by steps inside the Porta del Campanile.
4. A Benedictine foundation, the Badia Fiorentina, was one of the richest monasteries in medieval Florence. Little now remains of the original building, which was rebuilt in the late thirteenth century, and again in 1627–31 by Matteo Segaloni. The campanile is, perhaps, the most delicate in the city, and, according to Dante (who, so tradition has it, first saw Beatrice here), life was organized around the ringing of its bell. It is entered from VIA DEL PROCONSOLO through a portal by Benedetto da Rovezzano, who also designed the portal in Via Dante Alighieri. Apart from his marble tomb of Ugo, Mino da Fiesole also sculpted the tomb of Bernardo Giugni, a Florentine statesman who died in 1466, and the altarpiece of the Virgin with Saints. Filippino Lippi painted the panel of St Bernard Appearing to the Virgin. In the chapel are the remains of four frescoes of the Passion of Christ, possibly by Nardo di Cione, Orcagna's brother.
To the right of the choir, a door leads to the Chiostro degli Aranci, so-called after the orange trees which were grown here. The loggia has been attributed to Bernardo Rossellino. The frescoes of the 1430s represent scenes from the life of St Benedict, who is also depicted in a lunette by the young Bronzino.
5. The Palazzo Arcivescovile, rebuilt in 1895, incorporates the church of San Salvatore al Vescovo, the interior of which was frescoed in the 1730s.
6. The church of Santa Trinita underwent a remodelling in the second half of the thirteenth century, and Neri di Fioravanti made further additions and alterations in the fourteenth century. Buontalenti designed the façade in 1593–4. The church contains several depictions of its founder, San Giovanni Gualberto, as well as remnants of his robes in the chapel to the left of the high altar. In the third chapel in the right-hand aisle (NB, the altar is at the west end in this church) is a Madonna Enthroned by Neri di Bicci and a Marriage
of St Catherine by a follower of Spinello Aretino. The fourth chapel, the Bartolini-Salimbeni Chapel, was decorated by the Sienese Lorenzo Monaco in the early fifteenth century with frescoes and an Annunciation altarpiece, and is probably just as he left it. The ONOFRIO STROZZI CHAPEL is in the sacristy. Adjoining it, to the right of the choir, is the SASSETTI CHAPEL.