Description
Piazza della Signoria is the main square of Florence, the political heart of the city since the Middle Ages: in front of Palazzo Vecchio, a kind of open-air museum of statues, with the Fountain of Neptune, the Loggia dei Lanzi and a copy of the David.
Its shape arose around 1268, when the victorious Guelphs demolished the houses of the Ghibellines that stood here. While the Duomo was the religious center and the Mercato Vecchio the center of trade, the square and the Palazzo della Signoria became the center of political life.
The statues tell of a long contest between the Republic and the Medici. Donatello's Marzocco and Judith, now replaced by copies, and Michelangelo's David are the people overthrowing the tyrant. Cellini's Perseus, commissioned by Cosimo I for the Loggia dei Lanzi, raises Medusa's head: a clean break with the republican experience.
The Loggia dei Lanzi was built between 1376 and 1381 for public ceremonies, and took its name from the Landsknechts who camped there in 1527. In the 1500s it became an open-air museum: besides the Perseus there is Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women.
Next to the David stands Baccio Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus: Michelangelo was supposed to make it, but Bandinelli carved it, trying to imitate the style of the David without managing it, and earned plenty of criticism. In front of Palazzo Vecchio is also the equestrian statue of Cosimo I, by Giambologna.
The Fountain of Neptune, from 1563-1565, is the first public fountain in Florence. The white Neptune is not much loved by the Florentines, who call him "il Biancone," the Big White One. At the unveiling people said: "Ammannato, Ammannato, what fine marble you've ruined!"
The square was also the place of public executions. The most famous was on May 23, 1498: Savonarola was hanged and burned for heresy, on the very spot where he and his followers had lit the Bonfire of the Vanities, setting fire to books, poems, gaming tables and clothes. A plaque in front of the fountain commemorates him.
Beneath Palazzo Vecchio, excavations have brought to light Roman baths and a large fullonica, and in the square the towers and houses of the medieval district later demolished.
Its shape arose around 1268, when the victorious Guelphs demolished the houses of the Ghibellines that stood here. While the Duomo was the religious center and the Mercato Vecchio the center of trade, the square and the Palazzo della Signoria became the center of political life.
The statues tell of a long contest between the Republic and the Medici. Donatello's Marzocco and Judith, now replaced by copies, and Michelangelo's David are the people overthrowing the tyrant. Cellini's Perseus, commissioned by Cosimo I for the Loggia dei Lanzi, raises Medusa's head: a clean break with the republican experience.
The Loggia dei Lanzi was built between 1376 and 1381 for public ceremonies, and took its name from the Landsknechts who camped there in 1527. In the 1500s it became an open-air museum: besides the Perseus there is Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women.
Next to the David stands Baccio Bandinelli's Hercules and Cacus: Michelangelo was supposed to make it, but Bandinelli carved it, trying to imitate the style of the David without managing it, and earned plenty of criticism. In front of Palazzo Vecchio is also the equestrian statue of Cosimo I, by Giambologna.
The Fountain of Neptune, from 1563-1565, is the first public fountain in Florence. The white Neptune is not much loved by the Florentines, who call him "il Biancone," the Big White One. At the unveiling people said: "Ammannato, Ammannato, what fine marble you've ruined!"
The square was also the place of public executions. The most famous was on May 23, 1498: Savonarola was hanged and burned for heresy, on the very spot where he and his followers had lit the Bonfire of the Vanities, setting fire to books, poems, gaming tables and clothes. A plaque in front of the fountain commemorates him.
Beneath Palazzo Vecchio, excavations have brought to light Roman baths and a large fullonica, and in the square the towers and houses of the medieval district later demolished.