ITINERARY 1
After touring the remarkable sights in PIAZZA DEL DUOMO (Cathedral, Batptistery, Giotto's Bell Tower, Cathedral Museum), proceed the whole lenght of one of the major shopping streeets leading off it, Via Calzaiuoli, stopping midway for a visit to the Orsanmichele church, Via Calzaiuoli comes out in Piazza Signoria featuring another cluster of outstanding monuments (Palazzo Vecchio, Loggia della Signoria, Uffizzi Gallery).
CATHEDRALWhen the old church of Santa Reparata (c. 4 th - 5 th) century could no longer contain Florence's growing Christian community, Arnolfo di Cambio was commissioned to design a cathedral to be buildt right over it (1289). After his death in 1302, it was continued by artists of great renown such as Giotto, Andrea Pisano, and, Brunelleschi. The present facade by the architect De Fabris was added at the end of the 19th century. Brunelleschi worked on the remarkable dome from the 1420s to 1434. Of note are the cathedral's lateral portals: the early 15th century Portal della Mandorla (north side) and the 14th century Porta dei Canonici(south side). The feeling of stark majestic pervading the interior is enhanced by the oversize pillars and impressive stained-glass windows (14th-15th century). On the left wall are two celebrated frescoes commemorating 15th century military figures: John Hankwood painted by Paolo Uccello in 1436 alongside the chiaroscuro Niccolò da Tolentino painted by Andrea del Castagno in 1456. On the same side some feet beyond is a panel depicting Dante and his Divine Comedy by Domenico di Michelino (1465). A crucifix by Benedetto da Maiano dated 1497 adorns the main altar. The dome is covered by a enormous fresco, an impressive Last Judgment by Vasari Zuccari, and helpers. A flight of stairs in the right aisle leads down to the Crypt of Santa Reparata which not only contains remains of the original Florentine cathedal (architecture, fragments, carved tombs, and frescoes), but also the recently discovered tomb of the great Brunelleschi.
BAPTISTERYProbably built around the 5th century, the Baptistery is a striking eight-sided green and white marble building. The sculpted doors on three sides are celebrated works: on the south, scenes form the life of St John the Baptist by Andrea Pisano(1330), on the north, scenes from New Testament by Ghiberti (1401, and , on the east, one of the great masterpieces of early Renaissance art, the Gates of Paradise (as Michelangielo reputedly described them), sculpted with Old Testament stories by Ghiberti (1425 -1452). The mosaics adorning the interior (some of wich attributed to Cimabue) date from the 1200s.
GIOTTO'S BELL TOWERGiotto started work on the stunning green and white bell tower in 1223, although the project was completed by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti. Some of the reliefs on the base of the buolding (copies, the originals are in the Museo dell' Opera del Duomo) while sculpted by Andrea Pisano are believed to have been designed by Giotto himself. The view from the 85 meter tall tower is well worth the climb.
CATHEDRAL MUSEUMThe museum (located on the norheast side of Piazza del Duomo) houses works orinillay part of the nearby religious complex. Its best know treausure is Michelangelo's dramatic Pietà. Left unfinished, the group was sculpted around 1550 for the master's own tomb. Other highlights include sculpture by Arnolfo, Donaetllo and Nanni di Banco (form the orginal Cathedral facade), the two Cathedral Cantorie (one sculpted bye Luca della Robbia in 1438 and one by Donatello in 1455) Donatello's wooden Mary Magdalene carved in 1455 for the Baptistery, Andrea Pisano's reliefs for the bell tower (Labors of Man , Creation of Adam and Eve, the Planets, and the Liberal Arts), as well as reliquaries vestments and a 15 th century silver altar frontal crafted by celebrated artists among whom Verrocchio, Pollaiolo and Michelozzo.
ORSANMICHELEThe original building that Arnolfo erected in 1290 on the site of the church of San Michele in Orto as a covered trade center for the local wheat dealers was rebuilt in the 14th century after being totally destroyed by fire.The new structure with its great arches and tracery windows is typically gothic in style. In the niches around the outside are 14th -15th century statues of the Patron Saints of the Guilds that commissioned them from the great artist of the day E.G Donatello, Nanni di Banco, Ghiberti and Verrocchio . Inside the striking church interior adorned with frescoes, sculpture and stained glass windows, is Orcagna's celebrated Tabernacle of the Madonna della Grazie (1359) which contains a painting of the Virgin by Berdarndo Daddi. The upstairs may be reached from the neighboring 14th century palace (the Palazzo dell'arte della Lana) to which the church is joined by an overhead walkway.
PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIAFrom the late 1200s to this day the square has been the scene of the major Florentine political events. A plaque, for example , marks the spot where the reformer monk Savonarola was burned at the stake in 1498. The south side of the square is dominated by the three great arches of the Loggia della Signoria( which is also known by two other namens: Loggia dei Lanzi because the Medicis' Swiss guards, the Lanzichenecchi, used to station under it in the 16th century and Loggia dell'Orcagna because it was once erroneously attributed to Orcagna). Designed in the 1380s by Benci di Cione and Simone Talenti for public ceremonies it became an open -air sculpture museums as great works such as Benventuto Cellini's Perseus (1554) and Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women(1583) were set up inside it. The Neptune Fountain in front of Palazzo Vecchio si composed of an immense statue representing Neptune sculpted by Ammannati and statues of sea gods and seahorses by Giambologna. Giambologna also sculpted the nearby equestrian statue of Cosimo I dei Medici(1594).Across the way is the Alberto della Ragione Collection of Italian modern art (Campigli, Rosai, De Chirico).
PALAZZO VECCHIOArnolfo designed the building in 1299 and its Tower in 1310, although modifications were made in the 14th-15th centuries and in the 16th by Vasari and Buontalenti. The distinctive crenellated building with its rusticated stone facing and asymmetrical tower was a symbol of the Free Commune of Florence whose headquarters it was during the Middle Ages, even when it thereafter belonged to those who toplled the Commune, the Medicis.The Emblems below the crenellation represent the Tuscan cities, while atop the 16th century portal is the symbol of Christ the king. The statue in front are (left to right): the Marzocco lion by Donatello (copy) David by Michelangelo (copy and Hercules and Cacus by Bandinelli. The main courtyard designed by Michelozzo (15th century) was frescoed and stuccoed by Vasari. The putto adorning the fountain is a copy of Verrocchio's 1476 original. The immense Salone dei Cinquencento (Hall of the 500) designed by Cronaca in 1495 was decorated by Vasari around the mid-1500s. On the south end is Michelangelo's statue of Victory(1534). On the third floor are the Medici aparments: The Quartiere di Eleonora di Toledo(Cosimo i's wife) designed by Vasari with a notable chapel decorated by Bronzino: The Quartiere degli Elementi, again by Vasari, the striking Sala dei Gigli with a carved portal by Benedetto da Maiano, frescoes and a coffered ceiling by Giuliano da Maiano. The Cancelleria was Macchiavelli's office in the 15th century.
GALLERIA DEGLI UFFIZIThe building was commissioned in the 1560s by Cosimo I as offices (Uffizi) from which to administer the affairs of state of his domain, the grand duchy of Tuscany. Vasari, the architect picked by Cosimo, came up with a striking design consisting of two porticoed wings joined by a great archway on the river side. A few years later(1565) he completed a second project, this one in record time: the Corridoio Vasariano with runs form the Uffizi, crosses the river , and ends a half a kilometer away at Palazzo Pitti. The bulding was turned into a art gallery by Bernardo Buontalenti in 1582 who received the commission from Cosimo's successor Francesco I.
Buontalenti not only reorganized the rooms, but also added some new elements, eg. the striking Tribuna.
The collection, enriched over the years by Francesco's successors, became property of the state in 1743 when the last of the Medicis, Anna Maria Ludovica, left it to the City of Florence.
Little list of the main rooms:
Room 1: Greek and Roman sculpture. Room 2: 13th-14th century Tuscan school, Cimabue, Duccio, Giotto.
Room 3: 14th century Sienese school. Room 7: Fra Angelico paintings, Virgin and Child with St Anne by Masolino and Masaccio the telling portraits of Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro by Piero della Francesca. Room 9: Pollaiolo. Room 10-14: Botticelli masterpieces, Leonardo room (15). Room 17: classic sculpture and paintings by Mantegna. Room 20: German school. Room 21 Venetians Giorgione, Carpaccio and Giovanni Bellini's. Room 25: Michelangelo's famous painting the Doni Tondo(1504).
Rooms 27: Pontormo. Rooms 35-45: masterpieces by Rubens, including the immense Henry IV's Entry in Paris (1628).
The great raised passageway know as the Corridoio Vasariano is entered from the third (west) corridor of the gallery.
It is hung with Caravaggio school paintings and a celebrated collection of self-portraits (Leonardo, Titian, Durer, Rubens, Veronese, Vleasquez, Ingres, Fattori, and Pellizza da Volpedo, among others).
