Domenico Bigordi, born in Florence in 1449, was the first of five children. The nickname “Ghirlandaio” came from his father’s art as a goldsmith. In fact, his father was a famous jeweler excelled for his silver garlands that young Florentine noblewomen wore to adorn their headdresses. Ghirlandaio worked primarily in read more
When in 1559 Cosimo I de’ Medici organized a contest to design the first public fountain in Florence, he hoped to give the city splendor with a new David, hopefully this time without republican messages. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite go as planned. An artist named Ammannati won the contest with read more
The city of Florence satisfies many curiosities, but it also holds many mysteries that we have not been able to unravel yet. The Basilica of San Lorenzo is a church that was very dear to the ‘de Medici family, so dear that they chose it as burial place. Inside the read more
For us Florentine citizens, “Palazzo Vecchio” is that magnificent palace that we admire, photograph but we maybe don’t know in detail. Probably, going inside and understanding it requires many days of accurate study, but sometimes a first step, even an in-depth reading, can stimulate our curiosity. Without dwelling upon the read more
« Nor ample less nor larger they appear’d Than, in Saint John’s fair dome of me beloved, Those framed to hold the pure baptismal streams» (Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy, Inferno XIX) Florence is appreciated and studied all around the world: its monuments, its art and beauty that lie under every read more
Recently, underground rooms and corridors were discovered below the Basilica of San Lorenzo. They probably belonged to an ancient city that remained hidden through centuries. On the walls, there are drawings and maps of all the buildings that belong to the San Lorenzo complex, the Medici Chapels and Laurentian Library read more
One of Michelangelo’s least known inventions is the polyhedron, which shows the link Michelangelo had with Leonardo da Vinci. It is an object made of two hemispheres faceted in 60 small triangles, and it was planned to top the lantern in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo. The polyhedron was read more
Ten years after the flood, in 1975, the Medici Chapels were restored. After the restoration works, a concealed corridor of 7 meters by 2 was found below the New Sacristy (Sagrestia Nuova). In this corridor, the humidity caused by the flood made some charcoal drawings re-emerge. Those drawing depict various read more
The tomb of Gian Gastone is right behind the altar in the Medici Chapels. Gian Gastone was the last Gran Duke of the ‘de Medici family. What is interesting about the tomb is that the burial niche with the corpse of the Gran Duke was not inside of it. It read more
The beauty of Ponte Vecchio is undeniable. It is so beautiful that even Hitler himself was enchanted by it when he visited Florence with Mussolini in 1938. For their visit, the windows of the Vasari Corridor were widened in order to have a better panoramic view of the city. It read more