Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
is hardly pretty and is much mocked as il biancone (the big white thing), not to mention a
waste of good marble, by many a Florentine. Far more impressive are the equestrian
statue of Cosimo I by Giambologna in the centre of the piazza, the much-photographed
copy of Michelangelo's David that has guarded the western entrance to the Palazzo Vec-
chio since 1910 (the original stood here until 1873 but is now in the Galleria
dell'Accademia) and two copies of important Donatello works - Marzocco , the heraldic
Florentine lion (for the original visit the Museo del Bargello) and Giuditta e Oloferne
(Judith and Holofernes, c 1455; original inside Palazzo Vecchio).
Facing this line-up is the 14th-century Loggia dei Lanzi, an open-air museum where
works such as Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women (c 1583), Benvenuto Cellini's
bronze Perseus (1554) and Agnolo Gaddi's Seven Virtues (1384-89) are displayed. The
loggia owes its name to the Lanzichenecchi (Swiss bodyguards) of Cosimo I, who were
stationed here, and the present day guards live up to this heritage, sternly monitoring
crowd behaviour and promptly banishing anyone carrying food or drink.
Palazzo Vecchio
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( 055 276 82 24; www.musefirenze.it ; Piazza della Signoria; museum adult/reduced/child €10/8/free,
tower €6.50, guided tours €2; museum 9am-midnight Fri-Wed, to 2pm Thu summer, to 7pm Fri-Wed, to
2pm Thu winter; tower 9am-8.30pm Fri-Wed, to 1.30pm Thu summer, 10am-4.30pm Fri-Wed, to 1.30pm
Thu winter) Florence's fortress palace, with its striking crenellations and 94m-high tower,
was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio between 1298 and 1314 for the signoria (city govern-
ment). Highlights include scaling the tower and admiring the Salone dei Cinquecento , cre-
ated for the Consiglio dei Cinquecento (Council of 500) that ruled Florence at the end of
the 15th century. Don't miss Michelangelo's sculpture Genio della Vittoria (Genius of
Victory).
During their short time in office the nine priori (consuls) - guild members picked at
random - of the signoria lived in the palace. Every two months nine new names were
pulled out of the hat, ensuring ample comings and goings.
In 1540 Cosimo I made the palace his ducal residence and centre of government, com-
missioning Vasari to renovate and decorate the interior. Not too long after the renovation,
he and his wife Eleonora di Toledo (famously immortalised in Bronzino's portrait in the
Uffizi collection) decided that the newly renovated apartments were too uncomfortable for
their large family to live in year-round and he purchased Palazzo Pitti as a summer resid-
ence. After the death of Eleonora and their sons Giovanni and Garzia from malaria in
 
 
 
 
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