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.
Giovanni di Lapo Ghini and a Magnificent New Addition to the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
In a previously unnoticed provision of 1371, the Signoria and Councils of Florence approved a plan to construct an addition to the Palace of the Priors, now known as the Palazzo Vecchio. This article analyzes the main features of the provision, including financing for the project, selection of a building committee, and appointment of the architect Giovanni di Lapo Ghini as superintendent of the work. The implications of the term "magnificence" used in the provision to justify the project are examined in the context of the contemporary understanding of Aristotle9s theory of magnificence. Unfortunately, the provision omits a detailed description of the addition. To clarify the nature of Ghini9s project, the evidence concerning an earlier addition proposed by the Duke of Athens in 1343 is reviewed. On this basis, I conclude that very little of the duke9s project was actually realized. Instead, it is proposed that the newly discovered project of 1371 revived the earlier idea of extending the Palazzo Vecchio to the east.
The sculpture of Donatello
The description for this book, The Sculpture of Donatello: Incorporating the Notes and Photographs of the Late Jeno Lanyi, will be forthcoming.