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foundations of the palace designed by Arnolfo di Cambio were laid
in February 1299. The main facade and the 94-metre tower had already
been completed by 1302, but the rear of the building was constructed
and amplified in various periods through to the final modifications
made by Ammannati in 1588. It was originally conceived of as the
residence and offices of the Priori and the Gonfaloniere di Giustizia,
who were commonly called "Signori". They held office for
two months during which time they were obliged to live prevalently
in the palace following severe rules similar to those of a convent
community.
The name of this palace has changed names a number of times; initially
known as the "Palatium Populi" ("Palagio" in
spoken language), it was later called the "Palazzo della Signoria".
In 1540 it was renamed "Palazzo Ducale" when Duke Cosimo
I took power, and only later did it become known as "Palazzo
Vecchio". When Florence was the capital of Italy from 1865
to 1871, it was the seat of the Parliament.
There have been few changes to the exterior over the last seven
centuries, but the interior has changed appearance a number of times.
At the end of the 1400s, when Savonarola was in power, he had the
famous Salone dei Cinquecento built where the 500-hundred strong
people's council could meet to deliberate. Later, under the rule
of Cosimo I, Vasari transformed it in honour of his rise to power
with frescoes of the Florentine victories over other Tuscan cities.
In 1454, Michelozzo rebuilt the austere medieval courtyard of the
palace in the style of the early Renaissance. A hundred years later,
Vasari embellished it with gilded stuccoes and frescoes with images
of the principal cities of the Habsburg empire in honour of Giovanna
of Austria, wife of Francesco De' Medici. At the centre of the courtyard
there is a small fountain, the Putto with Dolphin (now a copy) by
Verrocchio, positioned on a porphyry basin by Francesco Ferrucci.
Around about 1550, Duke Cosimo came to live in the palace together
with his family and had it altered to suit his needs by Vasari,
who created meeting rooms and family apartments and engaged numerous
artists of the age to assist him.
Only some of the artistic treasures of Palazzo Vecchio can be described
here. Besides the Salone dei Cinquecento, there is the Studiolo
di Francesco I, an extremely atmospheric room shaped like a Florentine
chest, without windows and entirely frescoed by various artists.
Francesco spent a great deal of time here immersed in his scientific
studies. The Sala dei Gigli, with a beautiful entrance portal and
a coffered ceiling, was the work of Benedetto and Giuliano da Maiano;
inside there is the original of the Donatello bronze entitled Judith
and Holofernes, which was commissioned by Cosimo il Vecchio. The
room is decorated with gold lilies on a sky blue background (hence
the name), which do not refer, as one might imagine, to the symbol
of Florence, but to the French lilies of the Anjou, protectors of
the Guelph clan.
The Sala delle Udienze, together with the Sala dei Gigli, once formed
a single large room used for meetings of the Priori and for court
sessions. The artist Giuliano da Maiano decorated both the coffered
ceiling and the marble portal with the stem of the Florentine people.
The frescoes in this room were done by Salviati.
Today Palazzo Vecchio is the seat of Florence
City Council and many parts of it can be visited by the public.
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