Florence

by Christopher Hibbert

  Behind the high altar are remains of frescoed scenes of Old Testament figures by Alesso Bal-dovinetti. Cimabue's Maestà, now in the UFFIZI, was the altarpiece here. In the first chapel to the left of the altar is Empoli's Christ Giving St Peter the Keys and Allori's St Peter on the Waters. In the second chapel, the Scali Chapel, is Luca della Robbia's tomb of Benozzo Federighi. The austere marble effigy of the Bishop of Fiesole, who died in 1450, contrasts with the cheerful glazed terracotta bouquets of flowers around him.

  Continuing round the church, the second chapel in the nave aisle contains an Annunciation by Neri di Bicci, and in the third chapel is the Mystic Marriage of St Catherine by Antonio del Ceraiuolo. The last chapel in the aisle, the Strozzi Chapel, with a vault painted by Bernardino Poccetti, was undergoing restoration in 1992. Steps in the nave lead to the eleventh-century crypt.

  In the Piazza Santa Trinita stands the Column of Justice, a granite monolith from the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. It was presented to the Grand Duke Cosimo I by Pope Pius IV The porphyry figure of Justice is by Francesco del Tadda (1581). The bronze cloak is a later addition.

  7. The two factions are commemorated in Via Guelfa, which extends from Piazza del Crocifisso to Via Cavour, and Via Ghibellina, which runs from north of the BARGELLO, past the PALAZZO BORGHESE, the Teatro Verdi and CASA BUONARROTI, to the ARCHIVIO DI STATO. On the south side of Via Guelfa, on the corner of Via Panicale, is the church of San Barnaba with a Della Robbia lunette of the Madonna and Child above the fourteenth-century portal. The name Ghibelline is said to have been derived from Weiblingen, a town in Würrtemberg belonging to the Hohenstaufen Emperor Conrad III, the name of which was used as a battle-cry by the Emperor's followers. Guelph is believed to be the Italian form of Welf, also a battle-cry, and the name of the leader of the Emperor's opponents, Welf VI of Bavaria.

  CHAPTER 3 (pages 13–26)

  1. Other twelfth- and thirteenth-century towers still to be seen in Florence, some of them showing the holes into which the ends of the beams that supported the wooden balconies were inserted, are:

  Torre degli Alberti di Catenaia on the corner of the Via de' Benci and Borgo Santa Croce. The original tower was destroyed by a Ghibelline mob in 1260, the Alberti being notable Guelphs. Their family emblem, crossed chains (catene), can be seen on the capitals of the columns of the loggetta which was added to the tower in the fifteenth century.

  Torre della Castagna, Piazza San Martino, the meeting place of the priori before they moved to the PALAZZO DELLA SIGNORIA.

  Torre Cerchi, Via dei Cerchi.

  Torre Greci (Galigai), Via dei Tavolini.

  Torre Baldovinetti on the corner of Borgo Santi Apostoli and Via Por Santa Maria.

  Torre Compiobbesi, Via Calimala. This is incorporated into the late-fourteenth-century oratory of Santa Maria della Tromba.

  Torre La Pagliazza, Piazza Sant'Elisabetta, a prison in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, now converted for use as a hotel, which opened as the Brunelleschi in 1988.

  Torre dei Donati (Cocchi), Piazza San Pier Maggiore. The Donati also built the tower which rises above the nearby No. 11 Borgo degli Albizzi.

  Torre dei Mannelli, on the south side of the PONTE VECCHIO, built to defend the bridge.

  Torre Marsili di Borgo, on the corner of Via Toscanella and Borgo San Jacopo, with an Annunciation by the Della Robbia above the door.

  2. Santa Margherita in Santa Maria de' Ricci was built in the early seventeenth century. The portico is by Gherardo Silvani; the interior was restored by Zanobi del Rosso in 1769.

  3. The Ponte Vecchio is very close to the site of the first Roman bridge which carried the road from Paris to Rome across the Arno. The only bridge across the river in Florence until 1218, it was rebuilt in 1345 after the disastrous floods of 1333, which also swept away an equestrian statue of Mars at its northern end. There have always been shops on the Ponte Vecchio since the early twelfth century. All sorts of craftsmen and tradesmen displayed their wares here until 1593, when Ferdinando I complained about the squalor and decreed that only goldsmiths and jewellers could conduct business here. Jewellers' shops still line the bridge today. In honour of the goldsmiths, Benvenuto Cellini is commemorated with a

  Ponte Vecchio

  1900 bust by Raffaelo Romanelli in the middle of the bridge – the only bridge not destroyed in the Second World War. The raised corridor, the Corridoio Vasariano, whose line of windows can be seen above the roofs of the shops, was built by Vasari in 1565 – 6 to link the PALAZZO DELLA SIGNORIA and the UFFIZI with the PITTI PALACE. In the 1970s the river bed beneath the Ponte Vecchio was deepened to reduce water pressure on its foundations; but in 1992 fears were expressed for its safety after bits of masonry fell off the façade at the north end, the result, it was suggested, of the re-routeing of bus services along the north bank of the Arno.

  4. Of the three thirteenth-century bridges built after the PONTE VECCHIO, the first, originally called the Ponte Nuovo, became known as the Ponte alla Carraia because the road from it led to the Porta Carraia, which took its name from the carri, or carts, that passed through the gate. The bridge was rebuilt in 1269 and again in 1333. Repaired in 1559, it was enlarged in 1867.

  The second, the Ponte alle Grazie, was so-called because a chapel dedicated to the Madonna alle Grazie was built on it.

  The third, the Ponte Santa Trinita, has been described as the most beautiful bridge in the world. After it was destroyed by floods, the Grand Duke Cosimo I conceived the new bridge as a triumphal route and asked Vasari to supervise its reconstruction. Vasari in turn consulted Michelangelo in Rome. The plans were turned over to Ammannati, who had just rebuilt the Ponte alla Carraia, in 1567. The statues of the Seasons are by Pietro Francavilla (see also Chapter 26, note 3).

  5. The Palazzo Frescobaldi (Palazzo dei Padri delle Missioni) in the Piazza dei Frescobaldi at the Oltrarno end of the PONTE SANTA TRINITA was almost entirely rebuilt in the seventeenth century and its façade adorned by busts of Medici Grand Dukes. The Palazzo Frescobaldi in Via Santo Spirito has a long façade at Nos. 5–13 and a shorter one in Via dei Coverelli. Behind the Palazzo Frescobaldi in the Oltrarno, in Borgo San Jacopo, is the church of SAN JACOPO SOPR' ARNO.

  6. Fiesole Cathedral, il Duomo di Fiesole, is dedicated to San Romolo, who, according to tradition,

  Ponte Santa Trinita

  Piazza Santo Spirito

  was appointed the first pastor of Fiesole by St Peter, and was martyred under Domitian. Giovanni della Robbia carved his statue in the niche above the main portal. The building, begun in 1028, was enlarged in 1256. It was again enlarged in the fourteenth century, and heavily restored in the nineteenth. The crenellated campanile was built in 1213. The two rows of pillars inside the cathedral are surmounted by Roman capitals taken from ancient monuments. To the right of the presbytery is the Salutati Chapel. The tomb of Leonardo Salutati is by Mino da Fiesole, who also executed the altar frontal. The frescoes of the Evangelists and Saints are by Cosimo Rosselli.

  7. The façade of Santo Spirito overlooks the Piazza Santo Spirito. In 1434 Brunelleschi was asked to design a new building to replace the late-thirteenth-century church adjoining the Augustinian monastery. Work began two years before Brunelleschi's death, and was not completed until forty years later amid controversy over the architect's intentions. The plan is a simple Latin cross, and the interior is defined by the forest of Corinthian columns which form a continuous arcade. There are forty semicircular chapels right round the church. The chapels are marked on the walls, inside and out, by the emblem of the families who endowed them, for example, the Corbinelli stag, the black and white device of the Capponi family, who paid for five chapels, and the emblem of the Frescobaldi, on whose land part of the church was built. The flamboyant Baroque high altar, with its ciborium and baldacchino, is by Caccini. The Nerli Chapel, the third from the right in the south crossing, has a Sacra Conversazione altarpiece by Filippino Lippi. The altarpiece of St Monica and Augustinian nuns in the east corner of the nor
th crossing is attributed to Verrocchio. Next to it the Sacra Conversazione altarpiece is by Cosimo Rosselli. Its painted wooden frontal, possibly by Neri di Bicci, is one of the very few to survive intact in Italy. The adjoining chapel contains a sculpted altarpiece by Sansovino. A door in the north aisle leads to a vestibule by Cronaca, beyond which is the octagonal sacristy by Giuliano da Sangallo. The refectory at No. 29 Piazza Santo Spirito is all that remains of the fourteenth-century monastery which was destroyed by fire in 1471. It contains an emotional Crucifixion attributed to Orcagna and his brother, Nardo di Cione, as well as the Fondazione Salvatore Romano which includes works by Tino da Camaino, and sculptures attributed to Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia and Ammannati. A plaque on the wall outside the church records that the sculptor, Raffaelo Romanelli, had his studio in the piazza from 1894 to 1928. The statue of Cosimo Ridolfi here is his work. For the attractive, early-sixteenth-century PALAZZO GUADAGNI which rises up to its left at No. 10, see Chapter 22, note 6.

  8. Rebuilt and greatly enlarged in 1294 (possibly by Arnolfo di Cambio), Santa Croce became one of the most important Franciscan monasteries in Tuscany, rivalling the great Dominican church of SANTA MARIA NOVELLA. Construction was slow, chiefly because of arguments between the austere Franciscans and their more relaxed brothers, but was helped by contributions to the order from Florentine families, many of whom built chapels here. Vasari remodelled the interior in 1560 by building the side-altars. The neo-Gothic façade is a nineteenth-century addition, paid for in large part by an Englishman, Francis Sloane. The interior, with its open timber roof, is one of the most richly decorated in Florence. The narrative nature of the frescoes – many of them by Giotto – is typical of a preaching order. On the first pillar on the south aisle is a relief of the Madonna by Antonio Rossellino. The altarpiece at the second altar depicts the Way to Calvary by Vasari. On the third pillar is a pulpit by Benedetto da Maiano carved with scenes from the life of St Francis. Opposite the fifth pillar is Donatello's Cavalcanti Annunciation tabernacle. All along the south transept are family chapels. The first, on the west side, is the Castellani Chapel. The second is the Baroncelli Chapel, in which the fresco decoration is by Agnolo Gaddi's son, Taddeo. The altarpiece of the Coronation of the Virgin is by Giotto and his workshop. Beyond the sacristy

  Santa Croce

  is the Rinuccini Chapel, entirely covered with frescoes by Giovanni da Milano. At the east end of the church are the family chapels of the Velluti (with very early frescoes by a follower of Cimabue), the Calderini, the Giugni, the Peruzzi and the Bardi. The last two are notable for their frescoes by Giotto and his pupils. The sanctuary was decorated by Agnolo Gaddi, who also designed the stained-glass Gothic windows. Continuing along the east end are more chapels. The first two are the Tosinghi and the Capponi. The third is undedicated. The fourth is the Bardi di Libertà, with an altarpiece by Giovanni della Robbia and frescoes of scenes from the lives of St Stephen and St Lawrence by Bernardo Daddi. The last, the Bardi di Vernio, has frescoes by Maso di Banco of scenes from the life of St Sylvester. In the north transept is the Niccolini Chapel, remodelled in 1580 in an early Baroque style. The fresco decoration is by Allori, Bronzino's pupil, and the statues by Francavilla. The Bardi Chapel contains Donatello's wooden crucifix. In the Salviati Chapel is the tomb of Sofia Zamoyska Czartoryska by Lorenzo Bartolini, who also executed the monument to Leon Battista Alberti at the seventh pillar in the north side of the nave. Outside the chapel is the tomb of the composer, Cherubini. Opposite the sixth pillar in the north aisle is the tomb of Carlo Marsuppini by Desiderio da Settignano, opposite that of Bruni, another humanist scholar. At the altar between the fourth and fifth pillars is a Deposition by Bronzino. Ghiberti and his son were buried here at the foot of the fourth pillar.

  The statue of God the Father in the cloister is by Baccio Bandinelli, that of a warrior by Henry Moore. At the east end of the cloister is the PAZZI CHAPEL. To the south is the Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce, the contents of which were nearly ruined in the floods of 1966, including its most precious possession, Cim-abue's crucifix, now in the former refectory. In the Museo are Taddeo Gaddi's Last Supper, a detached fourteenth-century fresco, possibly by Giovanni del Biondo, Domenico Veneziano's Saints John the Baptist and Francis, and Donatello's gilded bronze St Louis of Toulouse commissioned by the Parte Guelfa for a niche at ORSAN–MICHELE. In other rooms of the museum are works from the Della Robbia workshop, and works by or attributed to Uccello and Donatello. Beyond the Museo is the second cloister, attributed variously to Brunelleschi, Giuliano da Maiano and Bernardo Rossellino.

  9. Santa Maria Novella was completed in the mid fourteenth century by the monk, Jacopo Talenti. The façade is by Alberti, who had to leave its lower half intact, because the Baldesi family had paid for some of its tomb niches, the avelli, which gave their name to the street on the south flank of the church. Alberti's patrons, the Rucellai family, are commemorated in the Latin name of Giovanni Rucellai, which is emblazoned across a frieze below the tympanum, and, less prominently, by their emblem, a ship's sail, in the main frieze entablature. The Medici family, into which Bernardo Rucellai married, is also commemorated by three ostrich feathers in a ring on the frieze over the main portal. The two astronomical instruments which hang on the façade were made by Fra Ignazio Danti, Cosimo I's versatile court astronomer.

  The interior is notable for its attractive green-and-white-patterned arches. Many of the chapels were built by survivors of the 1348 plague. To the right of the main portal is a Nativity attributed to the youthful Botticelli; to the left, an Annunciation by Santi di Tito. The founder of the convent, Giovanni da Salerno, is commemorated in a monument by Vincenzo Danti in the eastern corner of the second bay. In the sixth bay, a door leads to the Cappella della Pura. It has a fresco of the Virgin and Child with St Catherine of Siena (removed from one of the tomb niches). The RUCELLAI CHAPEL is at the end of the south transept; the BARDI CHAPEL and the FILIPPO STROZZI CHAPEL are next to each other at the east end.

  Behind the main altar, with its bronze crucifix by Giambologna, is the sanctuary, or CAPPELLA MAGGIORE. Next to this is the GONDI CHAPEL. The ceiling of the next chapel, the Gaddi Chapel, is decorated by Allori. This chapel contains Bronzino's last work, an altarpiece of Christ Raising the Daughter of Jairus. The last chapel at the east end is the CAPPELLA STROZZI. In the sacristy is a terracotta lavabo by Giovanni della Robbia and an immense cupboard designed by Buontalenti. In the third bay of the north aisle is Masaccio's Trinity with Two Donors, a perfectly executed example of the newly discovered laws of perspective. It has been suggested that Brunelleschi designed the triumphal arch which frames the crucifix. The donor, dressed in the red robes of a Gonfaloniere, kneels modestly with his wife outside the arch. On the second column from the west end is a pulpit designed by Brunelleschi and carved by his adopted son, Buggiano.

  The entrance to the Chiostro Verde, or Green Cloister, is to the left of the church. Badly deteriorated frescoes decorate the walls. The scenes from Genesis, on the south wall, notably a nightmarish Flood, are by Uccello. Through a window can be seen the Chiostro Grande which now belongs to the carabinieri; and, through a passage in the south-eastern corner, is the Chiostrino dei Morti, the Little Cloister of the Dead. Here are damaged frescoes from the fourteenth century, and a Noli Me Tangere terracotta tabernacle from the Dell Robbia workshop. Above this cloister were the apartments built for Pope Martin V's visit to Florence.

  Santa Maria Novella

  To the north of the Chiostro Verde is the Spanish Chapel, so-called because the entourage of Eleonora of Toledo worshipped here. It was originally the chapter house – St Catherine faced her tribunal here – and was designed by Jacopo Talenti with a massive groin vault. The fresco cycle, which covers the entire chapel, is by Andrea di Bonaiuto (also known as da Firenze). On the right wall is the History of the Dominican Order (or the Way to Salvation). Here, Andrea has imagined that SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE is complete with cupola. The Pope points his flock (including Dante,
Petrarch, Boccaccio, Giotto and Cimabue) to the Heavenly Gates, guarded by St Peter. He is helped by Dominicans and a pack of ‘Dogs of the Lord’, Domini Canes (a pun on the name of the order), who sniff out heresy. Above the Gate, Christ is enthroned, adored by angels. On the opposite wall, St Thomas Aquinas presides over personifications of Christian learning. Over the entrance wall are scenes from the life of St Peter Martyr. The apse chapel was decorated by Allessandro Allori and Bernardino Poccetti. The polyptych is by Bernardo Daddi.

  At the south-western corner of the Spanish Chapel is the Cappella degli Ubriachi, now a museum of relics of the church. Here are also displayed the sinopie of Uccello's Chiostro Verde paintings. Beyond the museum is the refectory with a Last Supper by Allori and a Sacra Conversazione by a follower of Agnolo Gaddi.

  10. The original of Donatello's Marzocco is now in the BARGELLO. A copy is in the PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA. It was commissioned in 1418 for the apartments in SANTA MARIA NOVELLA which were specially built for the visit of Pope Martin V, although Donatello probably did not finish it in time. This life-size sandstone lion is the best-known example of all Florence's Marzoccos, the heraldic symbol of justice and the Republic's protector. The name probably derives from a diminutive of Mars, and it has been suggested that the lion in turn derives from a time-worn

  Bargello, courtyard

  Roman equestrian statue of Mars that used to guard the PONTE VECCHIO until it was washed away in the 1333 flood.

  11. The Palazzo del Bargello. This and the PALAZZO DELLA SIGNORIA are the oldest surviving seats of Florentine government. The building of the Bargello, which was also a court of justice and a prison, began in 1255, perhaps to a design by Arnolfo di Cambio's master. Having been known as the Palazzo del Popolo, then the Palazzo del Podestà, from 1574 it was the residence of the chief of police, and therefore called the Bargello, meaning police station. Like the Palazzo della Signoria it was designed to withstand attack. The outside ground-floor windows are consequently small and high up. Inside, light comes from the Gothic courtyard, where there is a well. In 1332 Neri di Fioravanti started building the staircase whose walls are decorated with coats of arms of former residents. The Bargello is now the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, its doors first opening to the public in 1865. It contains an outstanding collection of Renaissance sculpture formerly in the uffizi and partly the bequest of Anna Maria de' Medici. There are works by, among many others, Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, Cellini, the Della Robbia family, Pollaiuolo and Giam-bologna.