Florence's Piazza della Signoria
The Piazza della Signoria is the heart of Florence and there is much to see and explore!
Cover photo: Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Italy, oil on canvas, by Bernardo Bellotto (1740). Courtesy of Wikipedia.
At the Center
Located halfway between the Duomo and the Arno River is the Piazza della Signoria, the center of Florence. Here stands the town hall, Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia dei Lanzi, the free and public outdoor gallery connected to the Uffizi Galleries, amid a multitude of public art. The Piazza has also hosts works by Renaissance masters like Michelangelo and Giambologna.
Piazza della Signoria has served as witness to some of the most important moments in Florence like the execution of Savonarola, the annual parade for Saint John the Baptist, and the peaceful expulsion of the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine. This town square is an absolute must-see for any visitor.
Palazzo Vecchio
Built upon Roman ruins, the Palazzo Vecchio is the city’s town hall. The design is attributed to architect Arnolfo di Cambio and it was constructed between the 13th and 14th Centuries. The asymmetrical tower is easily recognized from all over the city. Palazzo Vecchio still serves as the town hall today and is open for visitors, including the tower if weather permits.
The Genius of Victory
Visitors who enter the Palazzo Vecchio will find an original sculpture by Michelangelo, The Genius of Victory, housed in the gorgeous Salone dei Cinquecento, Hall of Five Hundred. The room was intended to have been painted by both Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci but the plan never came to fruition.
The Genius of Victory, completed 1534, is an allegory of a youthful victor holding captive a wrinkled old man. This sculpture is part of the Prisoners series, located in Galleria dell'Accademia, that was commissioned by Pope Julius II and intended for his tomb (the plans were never realized).
The youth was likely modeled after Michelanglo’s love and muse Tommaso dei Cavalieri. Author Dan Brown notes this as ironic because Pope Julius II was especially conservative.
The sculpture seems to recall the Biblical David and Goliath, one of which Michelangelo depicted thirty years prior, though there is no explicit text that supports this hypothesis.
The Execution of Savonarola
Among the first representations of Florence is the The Execution of Savonarola and Two Companions at Piazza della Signoria. This depicts a real incident, certainly the most famous of events that have taken place in the Piazza.
Girolamo Savonarola was a Renaissance-era Dominican friar who had genuine critiques of the corruption, lasciviousness, and opulence of the papacy and daily life. He advocated for social and spiritual reform. Savonarola was also an ascetic fundamentalist who believed in an imminent apocalypse and he demanded the destruction of sinful material excess like heretical books, provocative paintings, cosmetics, jewelry, and fine clothing.
Savonarola was not a fringe figure. He amassed a large following. After the end of Medici rule in 1494, the friar became the unofficial leader of Florence and he inflamed mobs to burn the Medici’s bank. In 1497 Savonarola organized his first bonfire, which historians refer to as the “Bonfire of the Vanities.” It’s believed that artist Sandro Botticelli contributed some of his own paintings for destruction.
Savonarola’s preaching of austerity affected all aspects of Florentine life. Merchants lost income and the upper class grew increasingly irritated. Pope Alexander VI ordered Savonarola to desist but he refused. Ultimately, Savonarola and two other friars were publicly hanged and burned in the Piazza della Signoria on May 23rd, 1498. Today visitors can find a plaque in the square dedicated to the event.
Michelangelo’s David
At the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio stands a copy of David by Michelangelo. The statue was originally installed outside the entrance of the palazzo in 1504, a decade after the expulsion of the Medici in 1494 and not long after Savonarola’s execution.
Saint John the Baptist
Saint John the Baptist, or San Giovanni, was the prophet who recognized and baptized Jesus. He has been the patron saint of Florence for centuries. In fact, he was even featured on the florin coins used during the Renaissance. The Florentine people celebrate the saint every year on Feast Day, June 24th, thought to be his birthday. A parade begins at Piazza della Signoria and marches towards the Baptistery, which is dedicated to the Saint. The parade continues today!
The Uffizi Galleries
The Uffizi Galleries, or le Gallerie degli Uffizi, boasts the largest collection of Renaissance art in the world, including works by Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Botticelli (the ones not burned by Savonarola). There are also works by Parmigianino, Caravaggio, and Artemisia Gentileschi. This is the most important museum in Florence, perhaps Italy.
Italian Unification
The Medici ruled Florence, the Tuscan capital, for nearly three centuries until 1737 when Grande Duke Gian Gastone died without a male heir. Tuscany then became territory of the House of Hapsburg-Lorraine. The House would rule until peaceful expulsion in 1860 after Tuscan citizens overwhelmingly voted for annexation to the unified Kingdom of Italy led by King Vittorio Emanuele II.
Enrico Fanfani captures the celebration of the vote’s results as seen from Loggia dei Lanzi in his painting The morning of April 27, 1859 (above and to the right). Notice the tricolor flag being added to the Palazzo Vecchio; the design had been established first in 1796 and is still in use by the Italian Republic today.
Loggia dei Lanzi
The Loggia dei Lanzi, first called the Loggia della Signoria, is an open-air sculpture gallery that adjoins le Gallerie degli Uffizi. The lodge was designed by Orcagna and built between 1376 and 1382; it originally hosted assemblies and public ceremonies. Sculptures were installed in the 1500s by the Medici family and the space became referred to as the Loggia dei Lanzi, The Lodge of Lancers, after the German mercenary pikemen, Lanzichenecchi, who were stationed at the gallery in 1527.
Abduction of the Sabine Women
The Loggia dei Lanzi houses many wonderful sculptures, but the most important is certainly the Abduction of the Sabine Women, also referred to as Rape of the Sabine Women or Rape of the Sabines, created by the High Renaissance sculptor Giovanni Da Bologna, known as Giambologna. Born Jean de Boulogne in 1529, Giovanni Da Bologna is a Flemish sculptor who settled in Florence in 1552 where he would become a Mannerist master.
The work is a High Renaissance masterpiece. One must view the interlocking figures from every angle to appreciate the craft. The work was considered revolutionary in that the sculpture features no dominant viewpoint and it is considered the first work of its kind in European history.
The Abduction of the Sabine Women features a complex figura serpentina composition, and it exemplifies the aesthetic ideals of Mannerism, in which style outweighs the significance of meaning. In fact, Giambologna had no subject in mind when he carved the sculpture and the work was originally exhibited as untitled. The Abduction of the Sabine Women was not a commission; Giambologna created the sculpture “solely to prove his excellence in art.”
Upon its completion in 1583, the Abduction of the Sabine Women was placed under the Loggia dei Lanzi by Grand Duke Francesco I. An earlier plaster cast model can be found in the Galleria dell’Accademia.
Aside from Michelangelo, Giambologna was considered the greatest sculptor of the Renaissance. He was a favorite of the Medici Family and he received numerous commissions, many of which occupy the Piazza. Visitors will find the recently restored Fountain of Neptune, sculpted by Giambologna and Bartolomeo Ammannati between 1563-65 to celebrate the opening of a new aqueduct and Giambologna’s Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I de Medici erected 1594, and modeled after the statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome.
The Piazza della Signoria is a truly wonderful place and I would recommend it as the first stop for anyone visiting Florence!
P.S. Questions!
Have you been to Florence? What’s your favorite place in the city?
