Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(Medici Library;
www.bml.firenze.sbn.it
;
Piazza San Lorenzo 9; admission €3, incl basilica €7;
9.30am-1.30pm Mon-Fri)
Beyond the basilica ticket office lie peaceful cloisters framing a
pretty garden with buxom orange trees. Stairs lead up to the loggia and the Biblioteca
Laurenziana Medicea, commissioned by Giulio de' Medici (Pope Clement VII) in 1524 to
house the extensive Medici library. The extraordinary staircase in the vestible, intended as
a 'dark prelude' to the magnificent
Sala di Lettura
(Reading Room), was designed by
Michelangelo.
Cappelle Medicee
MAUSOLEUM
( 055 294 883;
www.polomuseale.firenze.it
; Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini; adult/reduced €6/3;
8.15am-1.20pm, closed 2nd & 4th Sun & 1st, 3rd & 5th Mon of month)
Nowhere is the Medici
conceit expressed so explicitly as in their mausoleum, the Medician Chapels. Sumptu-
ously adorned with granite, marble, semiprecious stones and some of Michelangelo's most
beautiful sculptures, it is the burial place of 49 members of the dynasty.
Francesco I lies in the grandiose
Cappella dei Principi
(Princes' Chapel) alongside Ferdin-
ando I and II and Cosimo I, II and III. Lorenzo il Magnifico is buried in the stark but
graceful
Sagrestia Nuova
(New Sacristy), Michelangelo's first architectural work and a
showcase for three of his most haunting sculptures:
Dawn and Dusk
on the sarcophagus of
Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino;
Night and Day
on the sarcophagus of Lorenzo's son Giuliano;
and
Madonna and Child,
on Lorenzo's tomb.
PALACE
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
( 055 276 03 40;
www.palazzo-medici.it
;
Via Cavour 3; adult/reduced €7/4; 9am-6.30pm Thu-Tue
summer, to 5.30pm winter)
Cosimo the Elder entrusted Michelozzo with the design of the fam-
ily's townhouse in 1444. The result was this palace, a blueprint that influenced the con-
struction of Florentine family residences such as Palazzo Pitti and Palazzo Strozzi for
years to come. Inside, the upstairs
Cappella dei Magi
houses one of the supreme achieve-
ments of Renaissance painting and is an absolute must-see for art lovers.
The tiny chapel is covered in a series of wonderfully detailed and recently restored fres-
coes (c 1459-63) by Benozzo Gozzoli, a pupil of Fra' Angelico. His ostensible theme of
Procession of the Magi to Bethlehem is but a slender pretext for portraying members of
the Medici clan in their best light; try to spy Lorenzo il Magnifico and Cosimo the Elder
