The Palazzo Vecchio - or "Old Palace" has a fascinating history and an exterior and interior to match it.
The palazzo is located in Piazza Signoria in the heart of Centro or the historical heart of Florence. Its tall thin tower can be seen from all over Florence - although not as large or high as the Duomo & Campanile (see earlier blog) it is still very recognisable from many viewpoints.
The palazzo was built in 1298-1314 as the seat of government for the Priori / Signoria who ruled Florence at the time. Florence was a democratic city state. It also served as a prison. It was originally called after the ruling government - Signoria, but by the 16th century the Medicis ruled Florence, and in 1540, Cosimo 1 de Medici moved from his Palazzo Medici into this palazzo making it both the Council Office and a "ducal" residence. It was redecorated by Vasari, the major interior designer of his times! However, Cosimo's Spanish wife Eleanor did not like it. It was too fortress and office like and not grand enough for a residence; so she had Cosimo buy the huge Palazzo Pitti just across the river for the family residence, as the Pitti family had just gone bankrupt building this status symbol residence. (In an ironic twist Eleanor died before she could move in - all very reminiscent of modern day real estate dealings and changes of fortune!! ). However the Medici's kept the Palazzo Signoria, (now renamed the Old Palace because they had just moved into the new palace - it all makes sense doesn't it!) as the Council Office or Town Hall. The town hall is still located there today. And we think our 19th century town halls are historic - puts it into perspective I think!
The exterior is very crenallated / turretted and shows the coats of arms of the Florentine Republic and its fortress like origins reflect the turbulent nature of the times.
You enter via a courtyard off the Piazza and are greeted by fabulously carved & decorated columns and a ceiling painted in the "Grotesque" style, a style favoured by interior designers of the 15th century Renaissance. I love it. The white background covered in small pictures of flowers, foliage, beasts, cherubs and all sorts of imaginary creatures is fascinating and I, at least, can spend hours studying all the different features painted on the walls and ceilings. The walls of the courtyard were repainted in the 16th century to depict scenes of the Austrian Empire, as a Medici had just married a princess from Austria. Our house in Glen Iris did not show scenes of the Harris or Mallows empires when Alan & I got married - but then again, we didn't have Empires to be painted!
An aside - The ceilings of the long corridors in the Uffizi Gallery are also painted in this Grotesque style and I spent half my time in the Uffizi with my head turned upwards, rather than towards the paintings on the walls!
From the courtyard you go up a very wide grand staircase to the Salon di Cinquecento or the Salon of the 16th century. This is a very, very large, grand room - about 3 stories high. It was part of the original building and was designed to accommodate the 500 Council representatives. Cosimo de Medici had it redecorated so that the walls depict battle scenes of Florentine victories over neighbouring rivals Pisa & Siena. They are huge and impressive paintings, and the Medici figure prominently in them. Scenes of Florence also feature in some of them (pictures below). Vasari, the decorator, even raised the ceiling of the room - an amazing architectural and engineering feat, and put in a viewing platform at one end. There are fabulous works of art - sculptures, frescoes and paintings in this Salon and throughout the Palazzo, by many of the famous artists of the time - too numerous to mention here and also because no one particular piece of work stood out for me, however famous the artist!
The Palazzo is one of the few places I paid for a guided tour, but I was glad I did, as we had an excellent guide and it was very interesting. You were also left free at the end to wander round to your hearts content, so it was much better value. You could get all the information and then have time to walk round again and take it all in rather than rushing from room to room and not absorbing any of it.
As part of the tour, I paid for the extra secret rooms tour which took us into rooms not open to the general public, except on the tour, and they were the most interesting in a way. We also got taken up into the roof to see the work done in raising the ceiling - don't ask me to explain - it is too complicated!
The whole palazzo was ornate and magnificent. An Italian version of the elaborate chateau we visited in France. Other rooms on the tour that particularly impressed me were the old 16th century Map Room, the Science Room of Francesco de Medici, the room of the Elements, Hall of the Lilies and Eleanora's private rooms. The map room I enjoyed because I love looking at old maps, (I love the map room in the Vatican Museum as well), and the collection in this room was impressive. I particularly liked a map of Trogloditica - the Troglodites did exist!
Francesco's Science Room was painted with heroes, facets and branches of different scientific elements like chemistry, physics, astronomy etc and of the major elements that comprise the universe - wind (air), water, fire, earth, etc. It also had lots of little drawers and cupboards for him to keep his scientific equipment in. Francesco was more interested in science than affairs of state and spent as much time as he could in this room - today we would call him a "science nerd" in the nicest possible way.
The Elements Room was a fascinating pictorial study of the classical Gods of the 4 elements - water, air, fire & earth. The Hall of Lilies was a lovely room with walls and ceilings decked in royal blue & gold highlighting the fleur de lis (French for flower of the lily) and the friendship at the time between France and Florence. It hit a spot with me because of our 6 month association with France and their attachment to the Fleur de Lis - it is a very ancient symbol. It also had references to St George and the red cross. I had thought St George just belonged to England, but in fact he is all over Europe and I have seen statues and paintings of him in France, Italy and even Prague!
Eleanora's rooms were interesting because Cosimo had built her a secret viewing window over the Salon di Cinquecento, so that she could watch and listen to the goings on of government. Cosimo would discuss it with her later and get a much clearer picture of what was happening and all the secret alliances and conversations that he couldn't see or hear in the room itself. The window looked out through the air vent / grate high up in the wall and was hidden by the painted wall that incorporated the grate into the picture - very clever. Eleanora also had a whole room decorated in green & gold - as you can imagine I was very impressed!!
The Palazzo was very sumptuous and extravagent and is highly recommended for a visit in Florence. I sent my brother into see it, but unfortunately he missed the tour (I didn't research tour times beforehand - slap on the wrist for me) so I am not sure how much of the history of the palace he managed to get. Enough rambling. Photos of the Palazzo Vecchio, the entry corridor, the Salon di Cinquecento and various other rooms.
Vasari Corridor
I think the feature that best exemplifies the strategic thinking and excesses of the Medicis at the height of their power is the Vasari Corridor which runs from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti across the river. Cosimo had Vasari build this enclosed corridor from the Palazzo across the street, inside the Uffizi Gallery next door (Uffizzi means offices and were in fact the main council offices until the decline of the Medici's and the subsequent Empires, when it was turned into an art gallery). Cosimo wanted the corridor as an all weather link between his offices and his new home and also as an escape route if needed due to the turbulent political nature of the times. From the Uffizi, it forms an arch across another narrow street and then runs along the top of the Ponte Vecchio, around the turret of the bridge, over another street and along various buildings until it reaches the Pitti Palace. It is full of amazing works of art and is only open to the public by reservation once or twice a year if you are lucky. I kept forgetting to reserve a place on a tour because I was not planning very far ahead, and when I finally did try, itwas fully booked. Something to do on my next visit to Florence! Pictures of it in the next blog entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment