Archaeology, Merriment, and Murder: The First Cortile of the Palazzo Vecchio and its Transformations in the Late Florentine Republic
The relationship between trecento and quattrocento architecture is usually seen as a simplistic paragone of stylistic antithesis generally derogatory to the former period. A reconstruction of the original cortile wing of the Palazzo Vecchio, which was remodeled in the Renaissance, permits the deconstruction of this view, at least with respect to key aspects of one major building. New archaeological evidence, together with historical data and the analysis of two picaresque literary texts, yields a detailed picture of the complex early project. The builders' remarkably precise and imaginative planning procedure is rediscovered, along with the exceptionally high functionalism of the original fabric. Life in the palace, real and symbolic, is reviewed, and the changing form of the cortile in the Renaissance is found to have been motivated principally not by aesthetics, but by Medicean politics.
Architectural Collaboration in the Early Renaissance: Reforming the Florentine Badia
In the late 1420s, Abbot Gomezio di Giovanni initiated a major building campaign to reform the Benedictine monastery of the Florentine Badia. Designed to provide its community with an orderly space in which to pursue the Benedictine Observance, the compound rises around the so-called Orange Cloister, long considered to be an early work of Bernardo Rossellino. A reevaluation of the archival record demonstrates that Rossellino was one of many who contributed to the project, which was a collaborative effort codirected by master mason Antonio di Domenico della Parte and master stonecutter Giovanni d9Antonio da Maiano. In addition to issues of authorship, this article investigates why the building looks the way it does, how it was built, and how it served the abbot9s reform program. Answers to these questions allow us to develop our appreciation of Benedictine life and architectural practice in Early Renaissance Florence.
Some Unknown Descriptions of the Medici Palace in 1459
On April 17, 1459, Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Count of Pavia and the eldest son of Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, arrived in Florence for a stay of just over two weeks. The stated purpose of his visit was to meet Pope Pius II, due to pass through Florence on his way from Rome to Mantua, and to provide the pontiff with sufficient escort for his difficult journey through the Romagna. The visit also created an opportunity for the fifteen-year-old Galeazzo Maria to meet Cosimo de’ Medici and the Signoria of Florence and thus add luster to the alliance between Florence and the Sforza, which had already contributed to the establishment of the Sforza as dukes of Milan and was to be a decisive factor in Italian diplomacy until the end of the fifteenth century.