Florence: Friday

Friday morning we visited the Medici chapel and the Laurentian library. 

The Medici Chapels form part of a monumental complex developed over almost two centuries in close connection with the adjoining church of San Lorenzo, considered the "official" church of the Medici family who lived in the neighbouring palace on Via Larga. The decision to build their family mausoleum in this church dates to the 14th century (Giovanni di Bicci and his wife Piccarda were buried in the Old Sacristy, on a project designed by Brunelleschi). The project of building a proper family mausoleum was conceived in 1520, when Michelangelo began work on the New Sacristy upon the request of Cardinal Giulio de Medici, the future Pope Clemens VII, who expressed a desire to erect the mausoleum for some members of his family: Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano; Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino; and Giuliano, Duke of Nemours. After completing the architectural works in 1524, Michelangelo worked until 1533 on the sculptures and the sarcophagi that were to be featured on the chapel walls. The only ones actually completed were the statues of Lorenzo, the Duke of Urbino; Giuliano, the Duke of Nemours; the four statues of the allegories of Day and Night, and Dawn and Dusk; and the group representing the Madonna and Child; they are flanked by statues of Saints Cosma and Damian (protectors of the Medici), executed respectively by Montorsoli and Baccio da Montelupo, both of whom were pupils of Michelangelo. 
The articulation of the architecture structure and the strength of Michelangelo's sculptures reflect a complex symbolism of Human Life, where “active life” and “contemplative life” interact to free the soul after death, a philosophical concept closely linked to Michelangelo's own spirituality.
Numerous drawings by Michelangelo were found in a small space beneath the apse, and may be related to the statues and architecture of the Sacristy.

The Chapel of the Princes

This Chapel is yet another grand and striking mausoleum erected between 1604 and 1640 by the architect Matteo Nigetti following the designs of Giovanni de Medici, who practised architecture in a semi-professional manner. The Mausoleum, with its large dome and lavish interior ornamented with marble, was conceived to celebrate the power of the Medici dynasty which had successfully ruled Florence for several centuries. The octagonal room designed to contain the bodies of the Grand Dukes is in fact almost entirely covered with semi-precious stones and different-coloured marbles. The sarcophagi of the Grand Dukes are contained in niches and complemented by bronze statues . The inlay of the semi-precious stones, partially executed by highly skilled workers from the laboratories of the Opificio delle Pietre dure (see the related section, below) took several centuries to complete due to the difficulty of obtaining such rare materials that were available only at very high cost.
The interior of the dome was planned originally to be entirely covered with lapis lazuli, but was left incomplete at the end of the Medici period; the frescoes we see today were painted by Pietro Benvenuti in 1828 and feature scenes of the Old and New Testaments; these frescoes were commissioned by the then-reigning Lorraine family.

 

 

 

 

The museum at the Medici Chapel also had a special exhibition of reliquaries. A reliquary (also referred to as a shrine or by the French term châsse) is a container for relics. These may be the purported or actual physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures. 

 

 

 

The next stop on our tour was the Laurentian Library. On the first floor of the Brunelleschi cloister is the entrance to the Laurentian Library which houses what must be considered the most important and prestigious collection of antique books in Italy. It comprises the most lasting cultural inheritance which the Medici family has passed down to the attention, care and admiration of posterity. The collection had its genesis in the humanistic interests of Cosimo the Elder and his attendance of the Academy of Roberto de' Rossi. There followed his friendship with Niccoló Niccoli with whom he shared a passion for collecting ancient manuscripts of the works of classical authors. With Niccoli's guidance Cosimo acquired a great number of these. At the former's death, in 1437, Cosimo inherited most of Niccoli's library and donated a great many of these manuscripts to the monastery of San Marco.

He also founded the library at the "Badia Fiesolana". He was assisted in his acquisitions for this collection by Vespasiano da Bisticci who provided copysts with classical texts for subsequent diffusion. The original nucleus of volumes was then added to by Cosimo's son Piero. Subsequentely Lorenzo completed the collection with the acquisition of, above all, Greek texts.

The library followed the ups and downs of the Medici family. In 1494, following the sentence of exile imposed of Piero the Unfortunate and the banishment from Florence of the whole of the Medici family, the library was confiscated by the republican government and absorbed in toto into the library of the San Marco monastery. In 1508 it was recDowned by Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici (the second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, he became Pope Leo X) who transferred it to Rome. His successor Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici, son of Giuliano di Piero) brought the collection back to Florence in 1523 and immediately commissioned Michelangelo to design a library to house it.

This was to be another very important project for Michelangelo, because he made preparatory drawings for it and concerned himself with its construction for ten years before his definitive departure for Rome in 1534. However, he did not relinquish control of the project, monitoring the phases of building as the work was continued by his followers Giorgio Vasari and Bartolommeo Ammannati, who also completed Michelangelo's New Sacristy and who were assiduous in following the master's plan.

The decoration of the library went hand in hand with its actual construction (the ceiling dates to 1549-1550, the flooring from 1549-1554, the windows from 1558-1568) thus making the library one of the most unified works of the High Renaissance (or should we say of Mannerism) to be found in Florence. The vast reading-room is preceded by the dramatic entrance vestibule (called the "ricetto") planned in elevation by Michelangelo and built in that characteristic Florentine two-one combination of grey sand-stone elements on white plaster. Here Michelangelo's energetic and powerfully modelled architectural vocabulary (free from the constraints of the Brunelleschian style imposed on him, to a certain extent, in the New Sacristy) emerges in the tabernacle niches, the paired columns, the portal, all imbued with a feeling of solid strength. This dynamism, concentrated on the walls of the vestibule, downflows in the fantastical staircase (built by Ammannati in 1559, following a clay model prepared by Michelangelo). It consists of three flights of steps; the outer ones are quadrangular shaped, the central ones convex, and the bottom three steps are completely elliptical. The staircase is, then, an explosion of originality which fits perfectly with the fanciful character of the Mannerist style of architecture. The vertical tensions of the vestibule seem to quieten down in the long hall of the big reading-room. Here the guiding principle of the design is the maximum use made of the lateral sources of light. 

 

 

 

 

After our morning tours, we spent the afternoon shopping. We bought Brannon a leather satchel, some leather animal keyfobs for Madeleine's friends, a soccer jersey for James and some scarves for friends and family. 

The leather market

One of the many leather stores 

Stopping for a lunch of pizza

The mascot of Florence 

 

 A gelato break

We headed back to Rome that evening by train and spent our last night in a super fancy hotel in Piazza Barberini. The room had a loft area and the view was amazing!

 

 

 

 

We were sad to end our trip but ready to be home with James and Charlotte. It was a great experience to be able to travel with just one of the kids and be able to focus on just them for a few days. We are definitely looking forward to continuing the tradition of taking just one kid on a trip when James and Charlotte turn 11.