It was built in the 1300s, and is today the Town Hall of Florence. Although it is essentially an official building, it contains Renaissance treasures from the greatest artists of the period. The front entrance is guarded by two larger than life statues.... Michelangelo's David and Bandinelli's Hercules. Both were completed in the early 1500s. Hercules is thought to symbolize physical strength, David spiritual strength. The statue of David is actually a copy from the 1870s, the original is in the Accademia in Florence, just a few blocks away.....
Through this arch you enter the "first courtyard" of the Palazzo Vecchio, which is decorated with frescoes of Austrian cities painted in 1565 to celebrate the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici and Archduchess Johanna of Austria......
In the second courtyard, a tour group with the leader in period costume.....
And was this lion thinking..... not another tour group....?
Heading back out through the first courtyard into the piazza, we have these views of Hercules and David.....
On the south end of piazza is the Loggia, which is open to the public, and contains many great statues and sculptures by Renaissance greats. This is simply an amazing public space.....
In this photo of the Loggia, through the arch at the end, you can see the corner of another building. That is the Uffizi Gallery, a very large museum that is home to the greatest collection of Renaissance art in the world.....
One of the more fascinating historical events that took place in Piazza della Signoria happened in 1497. The Dominican priest Savonarola had gained power and authority in the church and appointed himself a sort of moral dictator. He ordered the burning of books, paintings, sculptures, fancy clothes, even mirrors.... creating the so-called Bonfire of the Vanities. Florentines revolted against him and he was hanged in the same piazza a year later, but his misguided efforts left a big hole in early Renaissance art and literature. Savonarola, very bad man.....
When you allow yourself the time to consider how the three piazzas in Florence have influenced thought, culture, engineering, and art through the centuries, you begin to get sense of the power and importance of this place.....
Click on any photo to enlarge.....
To the left of the Palazzo Vecchio is the Neptune Fountain, created in the 1560s.....
One of the more fascinating historical events that took place in Piazza della Signoria happened in 1497. The Dominican priest Savonarola had gained power and authority in the church and appointed himself a sort of moral dictator. He ordered the burning of books, paintings, sculptures, fancy clothes, even mirrors.... creating the so-called Bonfire of the Vanities. Florentines revolted against him and he was hanged in the same piazza a year later, but his misguided efforts left a big hole in early Renaissance art and literature. Savonarola, very bad man.....
When you allow yourself the time to consider how the three piazzas in Florence have influenced thought, culture, engineering, and art through the centuries, you begin to get sense of the power and importance of this place.....
Click on any photo to enlarge.....
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