The Medici were patrons of the arts as well as politically ambitious bankers and the frescoes in the Palazzo Medici chapel by Benozzo Gozzali and Michelangelo's sculptures in the Medici Chapels are not to be missed.
Fra Angelico's frescoes in San Marco are also a highlight, especially the angels.
The Medici family, originally rather poor, emigrated to Florence as economic migrants from Mugello in the Apennines in the twelfth century. However they quickly did well as moneylenders.1 By the early fourteenth century one of their members was serving on the Signoria, the governing council of Florence, and the family had become flourishing bankers.
The plague of 1348 decimated the population of Florence, more than half died. In its wake many properties were empty and the Medici purchased one such, a palazzo on Via Largo (now Via Cavour) which was quite large, with a courtyard, an orchard and a well. The palazzo was Casa Vecchia and remained in the Medici family for centuries.1
In 1445 the family head, Cosimo il Vecchio (1389-1464) bought a number of surrounding properties and then levelled them before building a new palazzo, the Palazzo Medici. Casa Vecchia remained in the family though.
The building is now used as the provincial government offices but parts of it can be visited, in particular the chapel with its beautiful frescoes. The building was purchased by the Riccardi family in 1659 (its formal name is now Palazzo Medici Riccardi) and many rooms have naturally been redecorated over the centuries.
Painted in 1459 by Benozzo Gozzoli the chapel frescoes include a magnificent set depicting The Journey of the Magi.
Above the altarpiece is a copy of Fra Filippo Lippi's Adoration in the Forest; the original was once here but has since been sold and is now in Berlin.
The side walls of the altar recess are each covered by a large fresco of adoration by saints and angels within a Tuscan landscape.
The large frescoes on the east, west and south walls each show one of the three Magi accompanied by his entourage. On the east wall is Caspar, on the south wall Balthazar and on the west wall Melchior.2 Several members of the Medici family are portrayed in The Journey of the Magi but there seems to be a lot of disagreement about who is who.
17th century alterations included cutting doors and windows through the south and west walls.
Another room that is really impressive is the Mirror Gallery, particularly the ceiling, painted by Luca Giordano in the 1680s and representing the Apotheosis of the Medici - celebrating the Medici and their achievements. At this time the Riccardi family were in residence.
The mirrors on the walls are painted with cherubs, animals and garlands of greenery and flowers.
The vault celebrates the Medici family in the centre, though it was commissioned by Francesco Riccardi, nephew of Gabriello Riccardi who had purchased the palace from the Medici family in 1659.
Surrounding the centre are paintings of mythological subjects and, in the corners, representations of the cardinal virtues: wisdom, justice, courage and temperance.
We went down into the lower levels of the palace where the original stables can be seen as well as two wells which once supplied the palace with fresh water.
The San Lorenzo of today stands on a site where a church was founded in 393. The Romanesque church, which stood here by 1060, became the parish church of the Medici, it being less than a block from the Casa Vecchia. In 1416 Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, whose bank was the foundation of the Medici fortune, was one of six prominent parish residents elected to serve on the committee charged with overseeing the building of a new church. Money was raised for the venture by selling patronage rights to chapels and Giovanni ensured that his contribution enabled him not only to buy the largest chapel but also to build and endow a sacristy (Sagrestia Vecchia) for the church.1 The chapel was designed by Brunelleschi who also directed the construction of the new church until his death in 1446, from which time it was completed by Antonio Manetti. There were plans for a marble facade but it was never put in place.
According to the information leaflet the Sagrestia Vecchia was effectively the first Renaissance building in history.
The elegant interior of the church is strongly geometrical with a square coffered ceiling, circular windows above arches and corresponding higher arches lining the nave. There are numerous works of art dotted about, in particular two wonderful bronze pulpits by Donatello.
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici is buried in the Sagrestia Vecchia alongside his wife. Nearby are the tombs of his grandsons Giovanni and Piero.
In the crypt the tomb of Donatello lies close to that of his friend and benefactor Cosimo de' Medici, eldest son of Giovanni Bicci de' Medici. It was Cosimo who stepped in to provide generous funding to complete San Lorenzo when the project ran into financial problems.
Not far from the church, on San Lorenzo 22, is a Bucchetta del Vino - an original wine window. During the plague of 1629-31 savvy Italian wine merchants punched a hole through a wall to the street in order to continue to sell wine without coming into contact with customers. The wine windows enjoyed a resurgence in use during the covid pandemic.
Attached to the Basilica of San Lorenzo are the Cappelle Medicee, including the Sagrestia Nuova. These are the resting places of many of the Medici dynasty.
Passing through the wide space of the crypt, where many Medici are interred, steps lead up to the Capella dei Principi - the Chapel of the Princes.
The six chapels hold the sarcophagi of eminent Medici Grand Dukes: Cosimo I (1519-1574), Francesco I (1541-1587), Ferdinando I (1549-1609), Cosimo II (1590-1621), Ferdinando II (1610-1670), and Cosimo III (1642-1723) - all are buried in the Medici crypt. Each niche above the sarcophagi was meant to hold a bronze statue of the relevant Grand Duke. Only two of these were completed - those of Cosimo II and Ferdinando I.
This immense octagonal room is 30m wide and 60m high, clad in marble, granite, jasper and precious stones. At the base of the walls are the semi-precious stone inlay crests of the sixteen city states of the Grand Duchy.
The unfinished semi-precious stone altar was dismantled in the 18th century. The altar now in place is a mix of inlaid and scagliola panels from different periods and dates from 1937. Scagliola is a pigmented mix of materials such as gypsum and glue which mimics precious stone and pietra dura.
The Sagrestia Nuova is entered from the Chapel of the Princes. This New Sacristy was designed by Michelangelo in tribute to Brunelleschi's Sagrestia Vecchia in the main body of the Church of San Lorenzo.
This holds the tombs of four of the Medici: Lorenzo the Magnificent, his brother Giuliano who was slain in the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478 which Lorenzo managed to escape, Lorenzo de' Medici's youngest son Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, and Lorenzo's grandson Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino.
Michelangelo created all of the figures on the son and grandson's tombs, though Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli, one of his pupils, completed the details of Giuliano's armour after Michelangelo left for Rome in 1534.
The sarcophagi of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano were meant to stand on the wall opposite the small altar and between the two other monuments. The project was never finished, however, and only the three statues were completed. The Madonna and Child is by Michelangelo. The other two, of the Medici patron saints Cosmas and Damian, were sculpted by two of his pupils, Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli and Raffaello da Montelupo respectively.
In 1559 Giorgio Vasari made a marble chest to hold the remains of the two brothers, on which the three statues now stand.
The Museo San Marco was once the Dominican convent of San Marco. Founded in 1436 it received the patronage of Cosimo de' Medici (il Vecchio, 1389-1464).
During the rebuilding of the convent it was decorated by one of its friars, a future prior, Fra Angelico (1395-1455), one of the most celebrated of early Renaissance artists.
Artworks can be seen immediately on stepping into the convent's cloister. Fra Angelico painted the four corner frescoes while the rest are 16th century depictions of scenes from the life of St Antonine, Antonino Pierozzi, Fra Angelico's mentor and prior of the convent.
The Fra Angelico room (Sala del Beato Angelico) holds only his works, but there are works of art and frescoes by other prominent artists elsewhere in San Marco.
For instance the fresco of the Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Small Refectory - it was traditional to have a painting of this subject in refectories.
Domenico Ghirlandaio's Last Supper was painted on the end wall of the Small Refectory, a room used by guests to the convent.
The fresco is designed as an extension of the real space of the refectory so that the long table at which Christ and his disciples sit appears to be placed on a dais at the end of the room. The scene depicts the moment when Christ reveals that one of the disciples will betray him; Judas is seated on the "wrong" side of the table with a treacherous cat nearby!
On the first floor are 43 cells used by the friars and also by visitors. These latter included Cosimo il Vecchio who had his own cell here and came to meditate and pray.
The dormitory was built by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo di Michelozzi (1396-1472) between 1437 and 1443.
The cells, arranged along three corridors, were frescoed by Fra Angelico and his assistants. The east corridor, Corridor of the Clerks, reserved for older friars, was frescoed with Stories from the Life of Christ, the south, Corridor of the Novices, reserved for young friars, with variations of the Crucifixion with St Dominic in Prayer. The north corridor, Corridor of the Lay Brethren, was decorated with stories from the Gospel.
At the top of the staircase leading to the cells is the most beautiful Annunciation by Fra Angelico. The multi-coloured wings of the angel are particularly lovely.
Behind the wall of the Annunciation is a cell (#31) which is thought to have been occupied by Antonino Pierozzi (1389-1459), when he was prior.
The fresco of "Christ descending into Hell or Purgatory" in Antonino's cell is quite unusual, depicting Christ descending into Hell or Purgatory between the time of his death and resurrection, to free the souls who had been imprisoned there before he died. The cell also showcases diverse items related to Antonino.
Along the Corridor of the Lay Brethren (northern corridor) is the entrance to the library. Cosimo il Vecchio commissioned Michelozzo to design the library and it was completed in 1444.
Originally containing the collection of humanist and bibliophile Niccolò Niccoli it expanded greatly over time and was open to scholars outside the convent. Dispersal of the library began in 1808 when Florence was under French occupation. Today the library displays liturgical books from suppressed convents.
At the far end of the northern corridor is the cell which Cosimo il Vecchio used. This is a cell with two connected rooms, 38 and 39.
The fresco in 38 is a crucifixion with a lapis lazuli background. This was a very expensive material and contrasts with frescoes in the other cells which are much plainer. Alongside the Virgin are Cosmas, one of the Medici family saints, Peter martyr and John the Evangelist.3
In 39 there are frescoes of the Adoration of the Magi and, in a small alcove, Christ as Man of Sorrows, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli and an assistant.3
As well as the Medici links, the convent is strongly associated with Fra Girolamo Savonarola, an extreme puritanical Dominican friar whose sermons railed against the corruption and materialism of the Medici.
Cosimo's son Piero was the head of the family for only 5 years before he succumbed to complications of gout in 1469 and his son Lorenzo (the Magnificent, 1449-1492) took over. Lorenzo strengthened control over the political governance of the republic and filled official positions with supporters. The Medici were rich and powerful but Lorenzo was increasingly profligate with their wealth, spending lavishly as well as paying the bribes needed to secure a Cardinal's appointment for his son Giovanni.1 But behind the scenes his banks were not doing so well, alongside a general decline in the Florentine economy. Savonarola took advantage of growing discontent, preaching fiery sermons. With Lorenzo's health in decline, and his death in 1492 from the same causes as his father and grandfather, his son Piero succeeded him in a Florence growing increasingly hostile to Medici rule. Piero became more and more marginalised and was eventually exiled from Florence. The family were evicted from the Palazzo Medici and by the end of 1494 Florence had a new political set-up with none of the various committees the Medici had used to manipulate the electoral system.1
Savonarola now came into his own. He was, at this point, prior of the convent and effectively became ruler of the Republic, drafting laws restricting the freedoms and festivities of the people. With growing discontent among both the people and the elite it was certain to foment resistance. When Savonarola refused to support the pope's Holy League he was excommunicated and banned from preaching. Savonarola ignored the papal order at which the pope threatened the Signoria with an interdict on the city if they did not stop him. It was the final push needed to bring down Savonarola. He was arrested on Palm Sunday, 1498, hanged, and burnt at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria.1
His cell - actually three connected rooms - is at the far end of the southern corridor.
While sightseeing in this area north of the centre, the Mercato Centrale is a good place for a quick lunch. The food hall is on the first floor, the ground floor has stalls with wonderful produce for sale.
