Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents
A sculptor, painter, architect, and a poet, Florentine native son Michelangelo was a consummate genius, and some of his finest creations remain in his hometown. A key to understanding Michelangelo’s genius can be found in the magnificent Cappelle Medicee, where both his sculptural and architectural prowess can clearly be seen. Planned frescoes were never completed, sadly, for they would have shown in one space the artistic triple threat that he certainly was. The towering yet graceful David, his most famous work, resides in the Galleria dell’Accademia.
After visiting San Lorenzo, resist the temptation to explore the market that surrounds the church. You can always come back later, after the churches and museums have closed; the market is open until 7 pm. Note that the Museo di San Marco closes at 1:50 on weekdays.
Top Attractions
Cappelle Medicee (Medici Chapels).
This magnificent complex includes the Cappella dei Principi, the Medici chapel and mausoleum that was begun in 1605 and kept marble workers busy for several hundred years, and the Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacristy), designed by Michelangelo and so called to distinguish it from Brunelleschi’s Sagrestia Vecchia (Old
Sacristy) in San Lorenzo.
Michelangelo received the commission for the New Sacristy in 1520 from Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (1478–1534), who later became Pope Clement VII. The cardinal wanted a new burial chapel for his cousins Giuliano, Duke of Nemours (1478–1534), and Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino (1492–1519), and he also wanted to honor his father, also named Giuliano, and his uncle, Lorenzo il Magnifico. The result was a tour de force of architecture and sculpture. Architecturally, Michelangelo was as original and inventive here as ever, but it is, quite properly, the powerfully sculpted tombs that dominate the room. The scheme is allegorical: on the tomb on the right are figures representing Day and Night, and on the tomb to the left are figures representing Dawn and Dusk; above them are idealized sculptures of the two men, usually interpreted to represent the active life and the contemplative life. But the allegorical meanings are secondary; what is most important is the intense presence of the sculptural figures and the force with which they hit the viewer. Ticket prices jump to €9 when special exhibitions are on—which is frequently. | Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, San Lorenzo | 50100 | 055/294883 reservations | €6; €9 during special exhibits | Mar.–Nov., daily 8:15–3:50; Dec.–Feb., daily 8:15–1:50. Closed 1st, 3rd, and 5th Mon. and 2nd and 4th Sun. of month.
Fodor’s Choice |
Galleria dell’Accademia (Accademia Gallery).
The collection of Florentine paintings, dating from the 13th to the 18th centuries, is largely unremarkable, but the sculptures by Michelangelo are worth the price of admission. The unfinished Slaves, fighting their way out of their marble prisons, were meant for the tomb of Michelangelo’s overly demanding patron Pope Julius II
(1443–1513). But the focal point is the original David, moved here from Piazza della Signoria in 1873. David was commissioned in 1501 by the Opera del Duomo (Cathedral Works Committee), which gave the 26-year-old sculptor a leftover block of marble that had been ruined forty years earlier by two other sculptors. Michelangelo’s success with the block was so dramatic that the city showered him with honors, and the Opera
del Duomo voted to build him a house and a studio in which to live and work.
Today David is beset not by Goliath but by tourists, and seeing the statue at all—much less really studying it—can be a trial. Save yourself a long wait in line by reserving tickets in advance. A Plexiglas barrier surrounds the sculpture, following a 1991 attack on it by a self-proclaimed hammer-wielding art anarchist who, luckily, inflicted only a few minor nicks on the toes. The statue is not quite what it seems. It is so poised and graceful and alert—so miraculously alive—that it is often considered the definitive sculptural embodiment of the High Renaissance perfection. But its true place in the history of art is a bit more complicated.
As Michelangelo well knew, the Renaissance painting and sculpture that preceded his work were deeply concerned with ideal form. Perfection of proportion was the ever-sought Holy Grail; during the Renaissance, ideal proportion was equated with ideal beauty, and ideal beauty was equated with spiritual perfection. But David, despite its supremely calm and dignified pose, departs from these ideals. Michelangelo didn’t give the statue perfect proportions. The head is slightly too large for the body, the arms are too large for the torso, and the hands are dramatically large for the arms. The work was originally commissioned to adorn the exterior of the Duomo and was intended to be seen from a distance and on high. Michelangelo knew exactly what he was doing, calculating that the perspective of the viewer would be such that, in order for the statue to appear proportioned, the upper body, head, and arms would have to be bigger, as they are farther away from the viewer. But he also did it to express and embody, as powerfully as possible in a single figure, an entire biblical story. David’s hands are big, but so was Goliath, and these are the hands that slew him. Music lovers might want to check out the Museo degli Instrumenti Musicali contained within the Accademia; its Stradivarius is the main attraction. | Via Ricasoli 60, San Marco | 50122 | 055/294883 reservations, 055/2388609 gallery | €11, reservation fee €4 | Tues.–Sun. 8:15–6:50.
Florence’s Trial by Fire
One of the most striking figures of Renaissance Florence was Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who, for a moment, captured the conscience of the city. In 1491 he became prior of the convent of San Marco, where he adopted a life of austerity and delivered sermons condemning Florence’s excesses and the immorality of his fellow clergy. Following the death of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Savonarola was instrumental in the formation of the republic of Florence, ruled by a representative council with Christ enthroned as monarch. In one of his most memorable acts, he urged Florentines to toss worldly possessions—from frilly dresses to Botticelli paintings—onto a “bonfire of the vanities” in Piazza della Signoria. Savonarola’s antagonism toward church hierarchy led to his undoing: he was excommunicated in 1497, and the following year was hanged and burned on charges of heresy. Today, at the Museo di San Marco, you can visit Savonarola’s cell and see his arresting portrait.
Fodor’s Choice |
Museo di San Marco.
This should rightly be called the Fra Angelico Museum because this convent is a treasure house of works by this leading master of the Early Renaissance, a Dominican friar as famous for his piety as for his painting. Indeed, his jewel-like paintings were created for these very rooms, allowing us the rare treat of viewing great works of art “in situ.” When the friars’ cells of this Dominican convent (adjacent to the church of San Marco) were restructured between 1439 and
1444, Fra Angelico (circa 1400–55) decorated many of them with frescoes meant to spur religious contemplation. His unostentatious and direct paintings exalt the simple beauties of the contemplative life. Fra Angelico’s works are everywhere, from the friars’ cells to the superb panel paintings on view in the museum. Don’t miss the famous Annunciation, on the upper floor, and the works in the gallery off the cloister as you enter. Here you can see
his beautiful Last Judgment; as usual, the tortures of the damned are far more inventive and interesting than the pleasures of the redeemed. | Piazza San Marco 1 | 50129 | 055/2388608 | €4.50 | Weekdays 8:15–1:50, weekends 8:15–4:50. Closed 1st, 3rd, and 5th Sun., and 2nd and 4th Mon. of month.
San Lorenzo. Brunelleschi designed this great basilica in the 15th century but never lived to see it finished. Note the dark marble lines on the floor, whose geometry underscores the “new” use of perspective. The Sagrestia Vecchia (Old Sacristy), at the end of the left transept, is the Renaissance at its purest; the roundels are by Donatello. | Piazza San Lorenzo San Lorenzo | €2.50 | No phone | Mon.–Sat. 10–5; Mar.–Oct., Sun. 1:30–5.
Worth Noting
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Laurentian Library).
Michelangelo the architect was every bit as original as Michelangelo the sculptor. Unlike Brunelleschi (the architect of the Spedale degli Innocenti), however, he wasn’t obsessed with proportion and perfect geometry. He was interested in experimentation and invention and in the expression of a personal vision at times highly idiosyncratic.
It was never more idiosyncratic than in the Laurentian Library, begun in 1524 and finished in 1568 by Bartolomeo Ammannati. Its famous vestibolo, a strangely shaped anteroom, has had scholars scratching their heads for centuries. In a space more than two stories high, why did Michelangelo limit his use of columns and pilasters to the upper two-thirds of the wall? Why didn’t he rest them on strong pedestals instead of on huge, decorative curlicue scrolls, which rob them of all visual support? Why did he recess them into the wall, which makes them look weaker still? The architectural elements here do not stand firm and strong and tall, as inside San Lorenzo, next door; instead, they seem to be pressed into the wall as if into putty, giving the room a soft, rubbery look that is one of the strangest effects ever achieved by 16th-century architecture. It’s almost as if Michelangelo intentionally flouted the conventions of the High Renaissance to see what kind of bizarre, mannered effect might result. The anteroom’s staircase (best viewed straight-on), which emerges from the library with the visual force of an unstoppable lava flow, has been exempted from the criticism, however. In its highly sculptural conception and execution, it is quite simply one of the most original and fluid staircases in the world. | Piazza San Lorenzo 9, entrance to left of San Lorenzo | 055/210760 | www.bml.firenze.sbn.it | Special exhibitions €5, museum €3 | Sun.–Fri. 9–1.
Mercato Centrale.
Some of the food at this huge, two-story market hall is remarkably exotic. The ground floor contains meat and cheese stalls, as well as some very good bars that have panini (sandwiches), and the second floor teems with vegetable stands. At press time, the second floor was closed for renovations. | Piazza del Mercato Centrale,
San Lorenzo | 50100 | No phone | Mon.–Sat. 7–2.
Museo di Casa Martelli.
The wealthy Martelli family, long associated with the all-powerful Medici, lived, from the 16th century, in this palace on a quiet street near the basilica of San Lorenzo. The last Martelli died in 1986, and in October 2009 the casa-museo (house-museum) opened to the public. It’s the only non-reconstructed example of such a house in all of Florence, and for that reason alone it’s worth a visit. The family collected art, and while most of the stuff is B-list, a couple of
gems by Beccafumi, Salvatore Rosa, and Piero di Cosimo adorn the walls. Reservations are essential, and you will be shown the glories of this place by well-informed, English-speaking guides. | Via Zanetti 8,
San Lorenzo | 50123 | 055/294883 | www.uffizi.firenze.it | €3 | Guided tours Thurs. 2, 3:30, and 5; Sat. 9, 10:30, and noon.
Fodor’s Choice |
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi.
The main attraction of this palace, begun in 1444 by Michelozzo for Cosimo de’ Medici, is the interior chapel, the so-called Cappella dei Magi on the piano nobile (second) floor. Painted on its walls is Benozzo Gozzoli’s famous Procession of the Magi, finished in 1460 and celebrating both the birth of Christ and the greatness of the Medici family. Gozzoli wasn’t a revolutionary painter, and today is considered
by some not quite first-rate because of his technique, which was old-fashioned even for his day. Gozzoli’s gift, however, was for entrancing the eye, not challenging the mind, and on those terms his success here is beyond question. Entering the chapel is like walking into the middle of a magnificently illustrated children’s storybook, and this beauty makes it one of the most enjoyable rooms in the city. Do note that officially only eight visitors are allowed in at a time for
a maximum of seven minutes (sometimes, however, there are lenient guards). | Via Cavour 1,
San Lorenzo | 50100 | 055/2760340 | €7 | Thurs.–Tues. 9–7.
Santissima Annunziata.
Dating from the mid-13th century, this church was restructured in 1447 by Michelozzo, who gave it an uncommon (and lovely) entrance cloister with frescoes by Andrea del Sarto (1486–1530), Pontormo (1494–1556), and Rosso Fiorentino (1494–1540). The interior is a rarity for Florence: an overwhelming example of the Baroque. But it’s not really a fair example, because it’s merely 17th-century Baroque decoration applied willy-nilly to an earlier structure—exactly the sort of
violent remodeling exercise that has given the Baroque a bad name. The Cappella dell’Annunziata, immediately inside the entrance to the left, illustrates the point. The lower half, with its stately Corinthian columns and carved frieze bearing the Medici arms, was commissioned by Piero de’ Medici in 1447; the upper half, with its erupting curves and impish sculpted cherubs, was added 200 years later. Fifteenth-century-fresco enthusiasts should
also note the very fine Holy Trinity with St. Jerome in the second chapel on the left. Done by Andrea del Castagno (circa 1421–57), it shows a wiry and emaciated St. Jerome with Paula and Eustochium, two of his closest followers. | Piazza di Santissima Annunziata | 50121 | 055/266186 | Daily 7–12:30 and 4–6:30.
Spedale degli Innocenti.
Built by Brunelleschi in 1419 to serve as an orphanage, this structure takes the historical prize as the very first Renaissance building. Brunelleschi designed its portico with his usual rigor, constructing it from the two shapes he considered mathematically (and therefore philosophically and aesthetically) perfect: the square and the circle. Below the level of the arches, the portico encloses a row of perfect cubes; above the level of the arches, the portico encloses a
row of intersecting hemispheres. The entire geometric scheme is articulated with Corinthian columns, capitals, and arches borrowed directly from antiquity. At the time he designed the portico, Brunelleschi was also designing the interior of San Lorenzo, using the same basic ideas. But because the portico was finished before San Lorenzo, the Spedale degli Innocenti can claim the honor of ushering in Renaissance architecture. The 10 ceramic medallions depicting swaddled infants
that decorate the portico are by Andrea della Robbia (1435–1525/28), done in about 1487.
Within the Spedale degli Innocenti is a small museum, or Pinacoteca (Thurs.–Tues. 9–7). Most of the objects are minor works by major artists, but well worth a look is Domenico Ghirlandaio’s (1449–94) Adorazione dei Magi (Adoration of the Magi), executed in 1488. His use of color, and his eye for flora and fauna, shows that art from north of the Alps made a great impression on him. | Piazza di Santissima Annunziata 12 | 50121 | 055/20371 | €4 | Mon.–Sat. 8:30–7, Sun. 8:30–2.
Previous Chapter | Beginning of Chapter | Next Chapter | Table of Contents