Categoria: Florence

In 1784 the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo wanted to build in Florence a gallery to house the great examples of Florentine art in order to share the art with the  students of the nearby Academy of Fine Arts. Thus was born the Galleria dell’Accademia. During the 1800s the gallery collected many works by Michelangelo, almost to become a “Museum of Michelangelo.” Now it houses both sculptures of the Florentine genius, than by other artists, with paintings from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century.

The centrepiece of the Gallery’s collection is the David by Michelangelo, brought here in 1873. Until then, the statue was placed in front of  Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza dellaSignoria, where today there is a copy. The exposure to wind, cold and rain made some  irreparably damage to the giant sculpted by Michelangelo. The David is considered one of the most important works of the Renaissance and, together with the Pietà and Moses, the most important sculpture of Michelangelo. The statue depicts the biblical hero when he is  about to face the giant Goliath. It is a beloved statue by Florentines, because it symbolizes the victory of intelligence and courage against the pure force. Commissioned to be hosted in Santa Maria del Fiore, it was placed in the Piazza dellaSignoria and from that moment became the civil symbol of the Florentine Republic. Michelangelo worked to the  David from 1502 to 1504, using a block of marble that had been previously used by Agostino di Duccio and Antonio Rossellino. Both artists gave up onthe sculpture because the marblewas  too fragile to support the weight of a statue of 4 meters and 10. Michelangelo,instead, made some special interventions, even if over the centuries riots, lightning, political attacks, have weakened and damaged  different parts of the statue. Over the centuries the David has become synonymous of perfection, symbol of eternal beauty, that despite the coldness of the marble can communicate movement and emotion through the eyes , and the body torsion which represents the  prelude to the battle against Goliath.

The first room is called the Colossus because  it housed a cast of a statue of the Dioscuri of Monte Cavallo, now no longer there. Now it houses the original plaster model of the Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna, the original of which is placed under the Loggia deiLanzi in Piazza dellaSignoria. On the entrance wall there are some early works by Botticelli, including an Our Lady of the Sea (1475-1480),from the convent of Santa Felicita. It takes the name from the marine landscape painting in the background and the blue Stella Maris painted on the Virgin’s dress. On one side it is now placed another work of Sandro Botticelli: The Virgin and Child with Saint John and Two Angels (1470), considered his early work. In the same room there is a Deposition of the Christ, started  by Filippino Lippi and completed by Perugino, perhaps with the help of Raffaello.

This room houses four sculptures depicting male nudes, called Prisoners, made by Michelangelo for the tomb of Julius II. In the gallery are both the Palestrina Pietà and  the San Matteo, sculpted by Michelangelo. The Prisons are not finished, a state of incomplete work voluntarily chosen by Michelangelo, to show the difficulty of the artist to make an artwork from marble, a symbol of the effort that humanity makes to free the spirit from matter.

In this section there are the oldest paintings of the Galleria dell’Accademia. The most important work is the “The Tree of Life” byPacino Buonaguida,  the painting that was placed inside the convent of the Poor Clares of Monticelli, Florence. The painting shows the crucified Christ on the cross and he looks like a tree  with roots in the Mount Calvary. On either side are depicted the stories of Genesis, from the Creation to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise.

In this section you can admire the majestic altarpieces made between the end of the fourteenth century and the beginning of the fifteenth, many of them with the original carpentry.

The most important core of the collection is made from plaster casts gallery of Lorenzo Bartolini, an important collection of plaster casts, models, or derivations from the original marble, which testifies the intense activity of the sculptor that had as clients Napoleon and the Bonaparte family, and many families of the high aristocracy and Italian and foreign bourgeoisie.

If you have never seen a Stradivarius closely, a visit to this section of the Gallery  will be an opportunity. The Department of Musical Instruments exhibits about fifty musical instruments from the private collections of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, Medici and Lorraine, collected between the second half of the seventeenth century and the first half of the nineteenth. These include the tenor viola by Antonio Stradivari, the violincello that was part of the same quintet, a 1716 Stradivarius violin and a violincello by Niccolò Amati of 1650.

The Church of the Santo Spirito is one of the most important religious monuments of Florence. While Santa Maria Novella is the church of the Dominicans and Santa Croce is the one of the Franciscans, the Santo Spirito has always been the reference for the Augustinians of Florence. Its construction  begun in 1444 by Filippo Brunelleschi who was also responsible for the design of the dome while the bell tower is the work of Bacciod’Agnolo. After the death of Brunelleschi, in 1446,  three disciples  Antonio Manetti, Giovanni da Gaiole and Salvi d’Andrea,  completed the work. The façade that can be admired today is the result of some changes made in 1700.

The façade that can be admired today is the result of some changes made in 1700. Santo Spirito Church as the same  structure of another basilica created by Brunelleschi, the one of San Lorenzo, but it has  longer aisles and  the dome in the centre. Above the altar there is a baroque canopy built by Giovanni Caccini in collaboration with GherardoSilvani. The Santo Spirito Church  has 38 side altars where there are  some very important works . In the altar of the transept there is one of the most important works of the church: the Madonna and Child with St. John, St. Martin and St. Catherine martyr by Filippino Lippi.

The Sacristy of the Santo Spirito Church is considered a jewel of the Renaissance period. Preceded by a vestibule built by Sansovino who was inspired by the Roman Pantheon, the construction of the sacristy was started by Giuliano da Sangallo and completed by Antonio del Pollaiolo. Sacristy houses a youth crucifix  by Michelangelo. Michelangelo lived here in fact, supported by the Medici, after his father’s death. As a sign of recognition he gave to the church the crucifix he made when he was 17 years old.

In Piazza Santo Spirito there is the entrance to theCenacolo of Santo Spirito decorated with a magnificent fresco by Andrea Orcagna depicting the Crucifixion and the Last Supper of Christ. The Cenacolo hosts a collection of sculptures donated to the City of Florence from  Salvatore Romano. Among  the most important works: the Caryatid and Adoring Angel by TinoCamaino, the Madonna and Child by Jacopo dellaQuercia and two bas-reliefs by Donatello with San Prosdocimo and San Massimo, from the Basilica del Santo in Padua.

Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral of the city of Florence overlooking the homonymous square. It is the fourth largest church in Europe after St. Peter’s in Rome, Saint Paul in London and the  Cathedral in Milan. In fact, the first objective of the building was to be better than  the cathedrals of Pisa and Siena. The cathedral, in fact, is 153 meters long, with three naves which end in the enormous circle which supports Brunelleschi’s Dome. Inside you can admire one of the largest frescos in the world: 3600 square meters of paintings, painted between 1572-1579 by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari.

Santa Maria del Fiore was built by the Municipality, as a “state church” and the works along the two aisles are in thecivic iconography program in honor of illustrious men of Florentine life, such as the fresco  “The equestrian monuments  of the governors John Hawkwood “by Paolo Uccello,” Nicholas of Tolentino” by Andrea del Castagno, the famous” Painting of Dante “by Domenico di Michelino and Busts of Giotto and Brunelleschi.

The religious program instead, is about a mosaic above the main entrance door, the work of GaddoGaddi and the  stained glass circular window above the altar, by Donatello between 1434 and 1437, representing both, “Coronation of the Virgin”.Both the civic program and sacred iconography, are about  the common meaning of human dignity and elevation  granted by God, as the monuments to the “famous men”, in which the historic dignity is celebrated and mosaic and  the window, in which is commemorated the spiritual greatness of man.

The ancient seat of the cathedral of Florence was the Basilica of St. Reparata, and on its basis was built the current cathedral by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296. The work then was continued by Giotto until 1337, while Francesco Talenti and Giovanni di LapoGhini completed it in 1357.

In 1412, the magnificent temple  erected on the ruins of the former, was dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the name of “Santa Maria del Fiore,” where the “flower”, according to an ancient document, would have been Christ sprout up  on the stem (Maria) on the roots  of the family of David. The church was consecrated in 1436, at the end of  the work of Brunelleschi’s Dome and currently it is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Florence.

Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296 started the construction, even if its project had many changes during the years, such as those on the outer sides of the buildingin the first four lower windows, expanded then by Francesco Talenti in the middle of the ‘300. The façade of the cathedral was the last to be built by Emilio De Fabris between 1871 and 1887 in a neo-Gothic style.Infact, it was made in honour of the Virgin Mary, portrayed on the throne with a flowered scepter. The mosaics designed by Niccolò Barabino represent, instead, on the middle door, “Christ enthroned between Mary and St. John the Baptist with Florentine people and saints”, on the right “Artisans, merchants and Florentine humanists paying homage to the Faith” and on the left” Charity among the founders of the Florentine pius acts.”

Inside, the cathedral looks great, but with few furnishings. This sobriety corresponds  to the spiritual ideal of medieval and early Renaissance Florence, which suggests, in architectural terms, the spirituality of the great reformers of the Florentine religious life. The enrichment of the interior, with rich coloured marble floors and niches, belongs to a later moment in the history of the Cathedral, under the patronage of the Grand Dukes in the ‘500. The construction of Santa Maria del Fiore was a big  project that lasted about 170 years, one of the greatest architectural masterpieces, which suffered for the political events, economic and artistic Florence. Its implementation was attended by the most important artists of the century.

Arnolfo di Cambio who already directed the construction of the Palazzo dellaSignoria,  gave to the structure its particular style. Excavations show that probably Di Cambiodecided to design a church with a large dome, inspired by the Roman model of the Pantheon and with the intent of overcoming the Baptistery size. Unfortunately, after his death in 1302,  works were suspended for about 30 years. On the death of Arnolfo di CambioGiotto and Andrea Pisano started to work at the construction, but it didn’t last very long  since both died in a few years, forcing the construction to stop another time. Both Giotto and Pisano focused anyway, on the Bell Tower. Giotto provided the project and was able to start the construction, continued after his death by Andrea Pisano. The construction of the basilica body was a team work, in which master builders and laborers, worked with other architects. Works started again in 1349 with the project Francesco Talenti, who finished the bell tower and changed the façade inserting a precious marble decoration in the side walls and defining the model of the column of the central nave. After the 1359 Giovanni LapoGhini took the direction of the works  completing the first three aisles, with an innovative square plan.

The outer walls were covered with a rich decoration in polychrome marble of Campiglia, Carrara (white), Prato (green), Siena and Monsummano (red). There were built four side doors, among which stood out for its beauty the “Canonical Door”, in flamboyant Gothic style and “Almond Door” so called for the element inside the Gothic spire with the high relief of the Assumption by Nanni di Banco.

The image of Adam and Eve expelled from paradise, their faces transformed by pain and shame of having betrayed the trust of God, is the masterwork of Masaccio and can be admired in Cappella Brancacci in Florence, in the Santa Maria del Carmine church. The frescoes, painted along with Masolino da Panicale, were commissioned by Felice Brancacci, and continued by Filippino Lippi after the death of Masaccio. As for the Trinity in Santa Maria Novella, also with the frescoes in Cappella Brancacci, Masaccio turned around  the history of painting.

You’ll be amazed by the harmony of the figures, making almost unrecognizable the author of the fresco: especially if you think that Masolino was an old master while Masaccio was already an artist renaissance, with a perspective vision completely different. By the will of Felice Brancacci, the two artists worked on the same walls, without making a distinction between the right side from the left one  because this would  have led to a stylistic division too obvious and pronounced. This forced Masaccio and Masolino to some common choices that have cancelled  the personal style distinctions. The result is a great balance between the drawings.

The cycle of frescoes in the Cappella  Brancacciwas begun by Masolino and Masaccio and completed 50 years later by Filippino Lippi. The frescoes tell the story of sin and redemption  through St. Peter. Starting on the left side of the Cappella  Brancacci are depicted these scenes:

Left wall, on the top

The beautiful and painful Expulsion from Paradise of Adam and Eve by Masaccio. An angel with a sword is chasing them  and a violent light shapes the bodies. Adam is crying and covering his face , while Eva covers her arms and breasts and her face is deformed by the screams of pain. Immediately after there is the scene of the Tribute. It refers to the episode about  Jesus in Capernaum with his apostles who is stopped by a tax collector who asks a fee to enter the city. Jesus orders Peter to go to the lake to catch a fish, and after having caught, must open his mouth and pull the coin that was in it.

The fresco contains 3 episodes from the centre: Jesus instructs St. Peter to catch a fish; on the left St. Peter is fishing  and on the right St. Peter gives the coin to tax collector. On the right there  is the Preaching of St. Peter by Masolino.

Left wall, on the bottom

In the lower part there are only scenes from the life of St. Peter: Saint Peter visited in prison by St. Paul by Filippino Lippi, the son of the Resurrection of Theophilus and St Peter’s in chair,  both by  Masaccio. Masaccio painted also the last scene: St. Peter healing the sick with his shadow.

Right wall, on the top

In this part of the Cappella  Brancacci stands out  The Temptation of Adam and Eve, just when they are about to eat the apple. In this case the faces of the two are restless but serene, just before they realize what they have done, such as is the case of the Original Sin of Masaccio.

Always on the top there is the Baptism of the neophytes by  Masaccio and the Healing of the Lame Man  and Resurrection of Tabita, by Masolino and Masaccio.

The right wall, on the bottom

On the right wall on the bottom , there are  The distribution of goods and the death of Ananias and Sapphira (Masaccio) The dispute with Simon Magus and Crucifixion of Peter (Lippi) and  the St. Peter free from prison.

The Uffizi in Florence are a huge collection of masterpieces. It would take several days to have a tour of everything, so we suggest a selection of masterpieces that cannot be missed. Obviously it is an arbitrary selection: the masterpieces we suggest you to visit are just a small part of the richness of this famous museum.

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In this room you can find the main works that marked the Tuscan painting from ‘200 and’ 300:

the three altarpieces by Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto, painted with the same subject and  called “Maestà – Majesty” , because all depicting the “Madonna and Child enthroned”. In that of Cimabue, 1280, it is important  the volume and plastic relief of the figure. In Duccio’s altarpiece, known as the “Madonna Rucellai” of 1285, the  figure is more graceful and more influenced by both the Gothic painting and the Eastern tradition; The Majesty of Giotto, also called “Maestà di Ognissanti – All Saints Majesty” of 1310, is located at the centre of the room and is characterized by a strong chiaroscuro and the volumes of the bodies, which formed the starting points for the development of Italian art.

In these two rooms you can find  precious Sienese and Florentine masterpieces

of the fourteenth century, among which the two famous alterpiece from the Duomo of Siena, which are the first examples of subjects  with evangelical episodes, instead of an icon to be worshiped. They are the “Annunciation” by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, characterized by an elegance  typical of the Sienese Gothic school and the “Presentation in the Temple” by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, which combines elements of Giotto and the Sienese tradition, with a taste for color. The hall dedicated to the Florentine painting of the fourteenth century influenced by Giotto and his workshop, is rich in polyptychs often incomplete or without frames and other smaller paintings. As the “table with Santa Cecilia”, the anonymous collaborator of Giotto, that from this work was named Master of the Santa Cecilia. Or other works characterised by Giotto’s inspiration, like those of Pacino di Buonaguida, Jacopo del Casentino, Bernardo Daddi, Taddeo Gaddi with its “Madonna with Child and saints” and Andrea Orcagna with the “Triptych with St. Matthew and stories of his life” .

It is one of the biggest and most famous halls of the Gallery since it hosts some of the masterpieces of the Renaissance and the best collection in the world of works by Sandro Botticelli, executed in the second half of the fifteenth century. Among his masterpieces are the “Primavera” and “Birth of Venus”, emblematic works of the Neo-Platonic culture that developed in Florence and the first with  large subjects of the Italian Renaissance, painted for Lorenzo de ‘Medici (not Lorenzo the  Magnificent).

Here are preserved the other extraordinary paintings of the master, like those of the youth “Madonna and Child” and “Madonna of the Rose Garden”, or the “Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo the Elder,” where there is already a more matureand realistic style. There are also some mythological works, such as the touching “Pallas and the Centaur”, an allegory of human instincts. Of extraordinary intensity are also the paintings of religious subjects as the “Pala di San Barnaba”, or the magnificent tondo of the “Madonna of the Magnificat”, in which you can  see a more severe and sometimes archaicstyle, as in ” Coronation of virgin”with a  gold background. But the influence of Savonarola on Botticelli also continues to be felt and to be expressed in its most pessimistic period, with “The Calumny” of 1495, a work that symbolizes the failure of the optimistic spirit and the finding of human baseness.

This room of the Uffizi Gallery collects early works by Leonardo da Vinci, from before 1475 “The Baptism of Christ”, a work  of his master Verrocchio, butthe young Leonardo painted the angel’s head, the landscape and perhaps modelled the body of Christ. It is said that Verrocchio, feeling surpassed by him, abandoned the painting devoting himself only to sculpture. The other work painted by a barely twenty Leonardo is “The Annunciation”, where already we can see the first nuances and attention to atmospheric vibrations. “The Adoration of the Magi” is an unfinished work, but is clear  the innovative genius of the master. Alongside the paintings of Leonardo, you can find important altarpieces by famous masters: the “Christ in the Garden” and “Pietà” by Pietro Perugino, the “Crucifixion with Mary Magdalene” by Luca Signorelli, “the Incarnation “Piero di Cosimo and” Adoration of the Shepherds “by Lorenzo di Credi.

The room n. 25  is the first of the west aisle of the Museum and it is dedicated to the Florentine sixteenth century.

Among the works there is the famous “TondoDoni” painting commissioned by AgnoloDoni to the young Michelangelo Buonarroti, with a colorful set of colors and impressive figures. But also its innovative “Holy Family” painted on wood and still preserved in its original frame. There are also other paintings, such as “Salome” of the Spanish painter Alonso Berruguete, “The apparition of the Virgin to San Bernardo” by Fra Bartolomeo and the “Visitation” by MariottoAlbertinelli, the latter full of religion and tradition.

Here you can admire the works of Raphael , boththose of the young artist and the more mature period.

At first it belong the “Portraits of the Dukes of UrbinoElisabetta Gonzaga and Guidobaldo da Montefeltro”, the one  of “Francesco Maria Della Rovere” and the famous “Madonna of the Goldfinch” in 1505, inspired by Perugino and Leonardo da Vinci, where subjects are extremely smooth and harmonious. To the following period, however, the so-called Roman,  when Raffaello became the leading painter of the Vatican court, are  the “Portrait of Leo X” with Cardinals Giulio de ‘Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi, the most monumental works and attentive to detail.

In these halls you can admire artists from Emilia and central Italy in the first half of the ‘500.

One of the most famous works is the “Madonna of the Long Neck” by Parmigianino, elegant and sinuous in its forms, but also mysterious, since it is a work left unfinished on the right side. You can admire also  the “Madonna and Child with Saints” and the “Madonna of San Zaccaria”, characterized by a background of Roman monuments. Other significant works are those of the Ferrarese court artist DossoDossi, with his “Apparition of the Virgin to the Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist”, the “Rest of the Holy Family in Egypt” by Giorgione evocation and a strange painting called the “Witchcraft” or “Allegory of Hercules” of uncertain iconography.

In this room the early sixteenth century Venetian painting is manifested inmasterpieces of the great Venetian master Tiziano.

Among the early works stand out the portraits of the “Knight of Malta”, those of “Dukes of Urbino Francesco Maria dellaRovere and Eleonora Gonzaga”, and the “Portrait of Ludovico Beccardelli”, in which is still present the strong influence of Giorgione. But the painting surely most beloved of the Gallery is the famous “Venus of Urbino”, a beautiful painting in which emerges all the sensuality of the goddess and the color and the plasticity of its forms.

In these rooms  are gathered the works of two great exponents of the firstFlorentine Mannerist: Jacopo Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino.

The first was an eclectic painter, inspired mostly by Michelangelo and German art of  Durer, which is represented here in his famous “Supper at Emmaus” of 1525. While the eccentric  Rosso Fiorentino stands out with small alterpieceof “Madonna and saints “called” delloSpedalingo “and the painting ” Moses with Jethro daughters”, typical example of a break with the traditional method  and looking for a voluptuous and dynamic style of the figures. The most admired is still the “Musician Angel”.

This room houses the early works of the genius Caravaggio.

On the back wall you can admire “Bacchus”, very attentive to detail as can be seen from the representation of the fruits and the “Sacrifice of Isaac” realistic and bloody in the representation of the figures.

But the painting which certainly is characterised by more feeling and violence is the famous “Medusa”, in which the head of Medusa, with a terrified expression, is cut by the hero Perseus and presented on a round shield. In the room dedicated to Caravaggio, there are also preserved other artists that reflect the drama of the typical themes of the master, such as Artemisia Gentileschi, with his “Judith Slaying Holofernes” or BattistelloCaracciolo with “Salome with the Head of John the Baptist.” Instead of  classic style are the works of Annibale Carracci, shown here as the “Venus” (or Bacchae) of 1588 and the Neapolitan Salvator Rosa with his “Landscape with Figures.”

This is not a work of art, but still an architectonic masterpiece.

In  1565, on the occasion of the marriage of Francesco De’ Medici  with Giovanna of Austria, Giorgio Vasari built for Cosimo I Dè Medici the “CorridoioVasariano” to connect Palazzo Vecchio with Palazzo Pitti (at that time it was residence of the Medici family). The corridor is one kilometre long, it starts from Palazzo Vecchio, passes through the Galleria degli Uffizi (Uffizi Gallery)  over the workshops of Ponte Vecchio and ends in Palazzo Pitti. Vasari in just six months built what is now known as the Vasari Corridor: a path that starts from Palazzo Vecchio, crosses with a covered bridge in Via dellaNinna, go through part of the Uffizi,  and , after crossing the Ponte Vecchio, it continues in the Oltrarno district nding in the Boboli gardens up in the Palazzo Pitti.

Ponte Vecchio is one of the symbols of Florence, a must for souvenir photos of the tourists visiting this beautiful city. It was the first and the oldest bridge in Florence crossing the Arno at its narrowest point. Ponte Vecchio survived to disasters of all kinds: the first construction in wood, dates back to Roman times, but was repeatedly damaged by fires and floods, like the tragic one in 1933. Then, in 1345 the bridge was rebuilt by Taddeo Gaddi a Giotto’s  disciple of Giotto, on three arches, deeper and more resistant to water. It is said that during World War II, its beauty hit also  Hitler and for this, it was the only bridge in Florence not to be bombed by the Germans in 1944.

Before reaching its splendour and fame, known all over the word, Ponte Vecchiohas been the bridge of butchers and greengrocers. The city authorities ordered to butchers to gather in the shops on the bridge to protect the cleanliness of the houses in the centre and eliminate, in this way, the smells of meat from the streets. When was built the Vasari Corridor (1565) over the bridge, the workshops were considered inappropriate and it was decided (1593) the eviction of butchers to make some room for raftsmen and goldsmiths, who still continue the traditional and renowned work of jewelry, known all over the world. In fact, in honour of goldsmith, was placed on the terrace in the middle of the bridge a fountain with the bust of the great master Benvenuto Cellini, the greatest goldsmith of Florence, work by sculptor RaffaelloRomanelli.

In 1565 the architect Giorgio Vasari built for Cosimo I de ‘Medici the Vasari Corridor to link the political and administrative center of the Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti, private residence of the Medici.

The corridor, is one kilometer long, and starts from Palazzo Vecchio, passing through the Uffizi Gallery, and over the workshops, to continue on the left bank (Oltrarno) in Palazzo Pitti. The Vasari Corridor in the days of the liberation was the only way to travel between the north and south of the city.

Ponte Vecchio is an example of a unique architecture, because its structure represents  the continuation of the road. It consists of three segmental arches, on both sides there are workshops in porches. For the first time in the West, the segmental arch overcame the Roman model based on round arches and began to be imitated in various Italian and European cities, as in Venice with the Rialto Bridge. At the four corners of the bridge there were four towers that controlled access: nowadays there is only the tower of the Mannelli, while the Rossi-Cerchi tower was rebuilt after the explosions of 1944.

Ponte Vecchio shops are all on the central passage and each has a back room built over the river, and  watching it from the outside, it seems to fall into the water. The glitter of gold and precious stones attracts the eyes of tourists and the pockets of the richest. At the centre of the bridge the shops are interrupted by two terraces: on the one at east there is the “Vasari Corridor”, while the other houses the monument of Benvenuto Cellini, the most famous Florentine goldsmith, made by the artist RaffaelloRomanelli. Unfortunately the trend  of padlocks  is present also in  Ponte Vecchio, so the gate of the Cellini monument has been used by lovers to hang the locks and then throw the keys into the Arno, as a symbol of their unbreakable bond. The contagious custom actually began 20 years ago by the military people of the  Academy of San Giorgio alla Costa, now you pay a fine of 50 Euros.

If Santa Maria Novella was built to accommodate the crowd came to hear the sermons of the Dominican friars, Santa Croce is the Franciscan basilica par excellence, one of the oldest and most magnificent ever built by the order of the friar of Assisi. The construction of the Santa Croce Church began in 1294, probably designed by the great architect Arnolfo di Cambio, and it was finished in 1385 and consecrated in 1443.

Since then it had  seven centuries of splendour, becoming the place where were  hosted the graves of the important people in Italy, in addition to have an extraordinary collection of works of art that attracts visitors from around the world.

The façade of the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence is the completion in neo-Gothic style of the original structure: the façade and the bell tower are recent (1853-63 and 1847). In the same period it was placed in front of the churchyard the famous monument to Dante Alighieri. The interior has an Egyptian cross shape with three naves, divided by large octagonal columns  and collects an impressive number of works of art.

The basilica is almost a microcosm of the great Florence work of arts.  The visit of the masterpieces starts immediately on the right side with Michelangelo’s tomb with over three sculptures representing Painting, Sculpture and Architecture sad for the death of the master. You can then admire the cenotaph of Dante and the monument to Vittorio Alfieri by Antonio Canova. Immediately after there is the pulpit by Benedetto da Majano,  the Tomb of Niccolò Machiavelli and then the Annunciation by Donatello. At the end of the right side there are the graves of Gioacchino Rossini and the one of Ugo Foscolo, who celebrated Santa Croce as a place of “Urns of the Strong”. Immediately after you enter  into the Baroncelli Chapel and then to the Sacristy of the ‘300. Next to this you can find  the Medici Chapel, with a beautiful crucifix in glazed terracotta by Andrea dellaRobbia. Don’t miss the  chapels with frescos by Giotto and Stories of the Life of St Francis. In the left aisle there are other tombs, including the one of Michelangelo, and Galileo Galilei.

The famous crucifix by Cimabue, badly damaged during the flood of 1966,  returned into the Sacristy of the Basilica after it has been in the Cappella deiPazzi and the Cenacolo.Extraordinary work of art created by Cimabue in the 1280s, this huge cross 3 meters high represented  for the first time not an indifferent and still triumphant Christ, but a suffering  man. Badly damaged in 1966, the Christ of Cimabue has also become a symbol of the flood and the need to protect and preserve the works of Italian art.

The Cappella deiPazzi is  a jewel of Renaissance architecture by Filippo Brunelleschi. The construction began in  1443, on behalf of Andrea Pazzi, father of the famous Jacopo who headed the famous conspiracy against the Medici family.  Made of stone and white  plaster, the chapel has an elegant portico with six columns, with vaulted ceilings and decorated panelled ceiling. Until few time ago it hosted  the famous crucifix by Cimabue, badly damaged during the flood of 1966, now back into the Sacristy of the Basilica.

Santa Croce  is not only a magnificent basilica, but a complex that also includes two cloisters and a refectory now used as the Museodell’Opera di Santa Croce. The old Cenacolo, built in the first half of the fourteenth century, is a large room with the back wall with frescoes of the Last Supper by Taddeo Gaddi, dominated by the Tree of Life. On the walls you can admire some fragments from Triumph of Death, Hell and the Last Judgment, a huge fresco by Andrea Orcagna, originally on the right wall of the Santa Croce. A tabernacle, which reproduces the original one of the Orsanmichele Church, houses the large gilded bronze statue of San Ludovico da Tolosa, made by Donatello.

The huge square in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce has always been one of the liveliest places in Florence. Where the faithful people used  to listen to sermons of the Franciscans, today is crowded by tourists. Once a year, however, the square regains its medieval charmbecoming the site of the historical game of CalcioFiorentino. At this ball game played two groups of young people. They played with the hands and feet. Today the historic game takes place in June, during the celebrations of the city’s patron.  4 teams  play from the historic districts of the Santo Spirito  (white),  Santa Croce (blue), Santa Maria Novella (red) and San Giovanni (green). Each team consists of 27 players who play  in three games, each of 50 minutes. Today, as in the past, the game consist in throwing the ball against the polychrome marble called “battipalla”, visible on the right side of the square, on the walls of the historic building of Antellesi.

Santa Maria Novella is one of the most beautiful and important churches in Florence. Recently restored, it has regained all the beauty and splendour of its polychrome marble. The Dominican friars began building it in 1278 as a response to the magnitude of the churches of Santo Spirito and Santa Croce, belonging respectively to the Augustinian friars and the Franciscan friars.

Around 1350 the church was completed, it missed  only the façade that would later become famous all over the world. To complete it  Giovanni Rucellai, merchant and humanist, gave the charge to Leon Battista Alberti. The church, so far built in the Gothic style, was transformed into a splendid example of “Tuscan Romanesque”, through the use of white, green and blackmarble, and with a careful choice of the proportions of the elements. The result is one of the most beautiful churches of the Renaissance. To remind people who wanted and funded Santa Maria Novella there are different symbols. On the pediment of the tympanum there is the inscription about  John Ruccellai and a symbolic year 1470. The marble decoration depicting a sail was the symbol of the Rucellai family. The sun in the tympanum is a symbol of the Dominican order.

The interior has three naves in which the Crucifix of Giotto immediately attracts the visitor’s eye. In the transept, in Cappella Strozzi, there is a wonderful cycle of frescoes made by Filippino Lippi. In the main chapel or Tornabuoni there is a famous Ghirlandaio’s fresco cycle in which the character portraits are all important figures of the time, including the Tornabuoni people. In the Cappella Gondi there is the Crucifix made by Brunelleschi, the only wooden work of  the artist.

The most important work of all Santa Maria Novella is the Trinity of Masaccio that is a totally revolutionary art. Jesus on the cross, at his feet the Virgin and St. John,  with the buyers of the work on the side, Lenzi spouses. The vault over Christ seems that really exists, so that Vasari used to say that “It appears a hole in that wall.” The Virgin does not watch his son ,who is dying , but points at the viewer of the picture, resigned to a fate that must be accomplished for all men’s salvation.

On the left of the façade there is the museum and the cloisters of Santa Maria Novella. The Green Cloister is named after the dominant color in the frescoes (Stories of Genesis) painted by Paolo Uccello and other artists. We suggest you to admire, in particular, the Great Flood and the Drunkenness of Noah. After the Green Cloister there is the section where are exhibited paintings, furniture and relics that belonged to the Dominicans of Florence. On the opposite side of the main entrance there is the Spanish Chapel which takes its name from the function performed in the Middle Ages as a  place for religious services of Eleonora of Toledo. Entirely frescoed by Andrea di Buonaiuto, it underline  the role played by Dominicans against heresy.

The “Bel San Giovanni”  narrated by Dante and loved by all Florentines

The Baptistery of  San Giovanni in Florence is in the religious centre of the city, in front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and it is the oldest monument in the square. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, patron  of Florence, originally was surrounded by other buildings such as the Archbishop’s Palace, then destroyed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, to create the current square. Its octagonal shape symbolizes “the eighth day”, out of our time of seven days, or the Baptism : the sacrament of initiation to the Christian faith and the passage of men from the  sin to the  new life in Christ. This majestic sacred building, created to accommodate the baptismal font of the Cathedral, welcomed the crowd of Florentines who received baptism, but only in two fixed dates per year.

The Baptistery of San Giovanni was considered originally a temple dedicated to the god Mars because it was built on the remains of Roman buildings. The date of its foundation is uncertain between the fourth and fifth and seventh centuries, but only in 1128 the building officially became the city baptistery, then covered  with marble both externally and internally. In the second half of the thirteenth century it was built the dome and in 1202  the apse with a rectangular plan. Then were  executed the mosaics of the apse and at the same time the small square gallery. Between 1270-1300, dates back the mosaic of the octagonal dome built by Jacopo Torriti, Coppo di Marcovaldo and Cimabue. Between 1330 and 1336 it was performed the first of three bronze doors, commissioned to Andrea Pisano and initially placed on the east side. But then the door was moved to the south side to place  the second door. The latter was built between 1401 and 1424 by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Also  the second door was moved  from the east side to the south. Ghiberti  built also the third door between 1425 and 1452. This one was called by Michelangelo  “Heaven’s Gate”, located on the eastern side of the building.

A triumph  of high architecture and precious works, soon made the Baptistery a civic pride, so much that the great poet Dante Alighieri called him the  “beautiful San Giovanni.” The building is covered by a dome , topped by a pyramid roof , while on the opposite side of the entrance there is the rectangular apse added together with the monumental dome, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

The external appearance of the Baptistery is characterized by white Carrara marble  and green Prato marble and the three magnificent bronze doors  added  between 1300 and 1500, by Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti and bronze and marble groups  illustrating the biblical stories of the baptized man.

The interior of the Baptistery is characterized by the splendour of the mosaics that cover the entire dome and the vault of the gallery. At the centre of the Baptistery was originally the baptismal font, decorated with marble inlays depicting the signs of the Zodiac.

From the font, looking up at the dome, you can admire the images of Christian Baptism, the Last Judgement, Christ overlooking the thirteenth-century mosaics:  under his foot happens the resurrection of the dead.

The dome of the baptistery has eight segments and is covered by  mosaics on a gold background. The cladding work of the dome lasted from 1270 until the beginning of 1300 and was made by important local artists .On the upper side are depicted  the angelic hierarchies, then there is the Last Judgement , dominated by the great figure of Christ and on his right Abraham, Isaac and Jacob while on the left side the hell with its demons. The other scenes on the ceiling depict different stories in the  horizontal sections of mosaic: the stories of Genesis, Joseph Jew, of Mary and Christ, and the stories of San Giovanni Battista.

The south door, designed by Andrea Pisano from 1330 to 1336, is the oldest of the Baptistery doors, depicting the life of St. John the Baptist, patron and owner of the Baptistery of Florence.

It’s  divided  into 28 panels: 20 panelsnarrate some episode about life of St. John and the other 8 panels are about personifications of the three theological virtues and the four cardinal virtues. With this work the sculptor updated the structure of Romanesque portals  using the so-called “quatrefoil”, which is typical of Gothic art. A curiosity: in the columns of the south gate are carved in bas-relief, two rectangles representing two length measurements in use in the Middle Ages, the Lombard foot and Florentine one.

Also the north door made between 1401 and 1424 by Lorenzo Ghiberti, is divided into 28 panels such as the Pisano door. The top panels  tell stories from the New Testament and scenes from the life of Christ, while the lower panels show the four Evangelists and four Doctors of the Church. A curiosity: to build the door  Ghiberti created a real workshop of bronze workers, which were formed by artists such as Donatello and Paolo Uccello.

From 1425 to 1452 Ghiberti created the east door too known to all as the “Door of Paradise”, so defined by Michelangelo.

It’s divided into 10 rectangular panels representing Old Testament scenes. They are included in a richly decorated gilt framework  made of  statuettes of prophets .  Since the door was damaged in the 1966 flood, its pads ave been  replaced by copies, while the originals, restored, can be seen in the Museodell’Opera del Duomo. A curiosity: close to the “Door of Paradise” there are two porphyry columns, currently broken, which were donated by Pisa in order to thank Florence for the help received against Lucca in 1117.

For 300 years it has been  Florence’s Cathedral and then the  favourite church by the Medici family

For a long time San Lorenzo Basilica was the most important church in Florence, until it was replaced by the Church of Santa Reparata, later become the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. It is located close to  San Lorenzo Market, just a few steps from the Duomo and the Baptistery. It was consecrated in 393, and it was the cathedral for 300 years when it was replaced by Santa Reparata. In 1059 there was the first expansion, and in 1419 the Medici decided to enlarge it thanks to Filippo Brunelleschi. The result is the first masterpiece of the Renaissance  that would have become a reference point for all religious architecture.

You’ll be astonished by  the contrast between the rough stone of the outer façade and the interior harmony. It is divided into three naves with Corinthian columns and arches of grey stone, contrasting with the white plaster of the walls. The inner side of the façade is by Michelangelo.

The interior will remind you  the art of Brunelleschi, the genius who could build the various parts of a building and connect them all on a straight mathematical relationships creating a great sense of beauty and harmony of the place. The  most astonishing work  is The Marriage of the Virgin of Rosso Fiorentino, the great work of the Florentine Mannerism in which around Mary and Joseph there is a joyous celebration.

Always on the right side, there are The Pala del Sacramento of Desiderio da Settignano and a bronze pulpit by Donatello on which are beautifully sculpted scenes from the Old Testament. A similar pulpit is also in the left aisle.

In the left transept there is the Martelli Chapel, with a sarcophagus of the Martelli family by Donatello and Martelli Annunciation by Filippo Lippi (1450). After a 2-year restoration, the painting is back to shine in its original colours.

From the left transept you can go to the Old Sacristy in which the genius of Brunelleschi joined to the one of Donatello. The Sacristy has the shape of a cube, surmounted by a dome. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, is divided into 12 segments.

The frescoed ceiling reproduces the position of the stars and planets on Florence during the

night of July 4^th 1442. Donatello made the decoration with cherubims and seraphims , the

Evangelists on the walls and the Stories of  San Giovanni Evangelista in Stories on the dome.

Donatello realized also the shutters of the doors. On the left wall there is the tomb of Giovanni and Piero de’Medici, the sons of CosimoilVecchio, commissioned to Verrocchio in 1472 by the sons of Piero, Lorenzo the Magnificent and Giuliano de’ Medici.

This sacristy is on the opposite side of the old one but you can access to it  from the Medici Chapels, whose entrance is independent and is located on the backside of San Lorenzo. For information on the New Sacristy and the Medici Chapels, visit our page Medici Chapels.

Close to the Basilica there are the Cloisters and the Laurentian Library which  is a major research centre at national and international level as well as a destination for tourists attracted by the beauty of the structures. The “Reading Room and the Library entrance” were designed by Michelangelo between 1524 and 1534. Before entering into  the library you can enjoy a little bit of peace  in the two cloisters closed to the Basilica. The most  beautiful one is the cloister called “the Canons”, with a beautiful loggia with two floors and a beautiful garden. The buildings around the cloisters were used for canons residence, but today are used mainly for residence and offices of the Laurentian Library, stores and warehouses. From the first floor of the main cloister there is the Vestibule of the Library, which then leads to the monumental hall