with the monogram Y.H.S. in the centre of a star above.
The old palace saw stormy scenes in 1529 when Niccolò Capponi was
deposed and Francesco Carducci, a leader of the _Arrabiati_ or ultra
democratic party, was elected Gonfalonier. Florence, that “most
republican of all Republics,” stood alone facing the united forces of
the Pope and of Charles V. After a hopeless struggle, which lasted two
years, the Signoria met in the Hall of the Two Hundred to hear the
death warrant of Florentine liberty. Duke Alessandro entered in state,
and then the envoy of Charles V. and the Pope’s Nuncio took their seats
on either side of the Gonfalonier, the Priors and other magistrates
sitting below them. The envoy preached a homily on the sins of the
Republic and the graciousness and goodness of the Pope and the Emperor,
and then read the Brieve of Charles V. which all present swore to obey.
Meanwhile the crowd in the Piazza below raised the well-known cry of
_Palle.Palle.Eviva i Medici_.
Some months later a deputation waited on Alessandro to announce that
a new form of government had been decided on, “abolishing for ever
the rule of the magistrate created by the people to oppress the
nobility, and decreeing that all power was to reside in the Duke and
four of his noble councillors.” Segni, in his History, tells us that
“Alessandro de’ Medici, accompanied by his councillors, one of whom was
Filippo Strozzi, and his guard in state, attended a solemn mass in San
Giovanni to give thanks to God for his Dukedom and for the new form of
the Republic, and then went to the Palace. There the last Signoria,
descending to the ringhiera (Giovanfrancesco de’ Nobili being the
Gonfalonier, the last we had), gave him, what he already possessed, the
rank of Lord and Duke and absolute Prince. And thus amid the shouts
of _Palle! Palle!_ and _Duke! Duke!_ by the people and a salute of
artillery and of fireworks which exploding all together made the whole
air resound, he returned in great pomp to his house, triumphant over
the murdered liberty of Florence.” As already mentioned he broke up
the great bell of the Palazzo Vecchio, “no less good than beautiful,”
writes Varchi, “which weighed 22,000 lbs. Some think for coining money,
as it was said to have so much silver that it might serve as alloy for
crazie, but this was not the case.” The Florentine merchant Davanzati
records in his diary, “the bell of the Council was taken from us in
order that we should no more hear the sweet sound of Liberty.”
After the murder of Duke Alessandro by his cousin Lorenzino de’ Medici
in 1537, the son of Giovanni delle Bande Nere succeeded to the throne
as Cosimo I. He inhabited the Medici palace in the Via Larga for five
years and then took up his abode in the Palazzo de’ Signori, “where,”
writes Gianbattista Adriani, “he caused the rooms which once had been
those of the Priors and of the Gonfaloniers to be arranged in princely
fashion ... and this he did to show that he was absolute Prince and
sole head of the Government, and to disabuse those who pretended, as
some had done, that the government of the city was a separate thing
from that of the Medici family. Also, as it was necessary to have a
guard in the Palace, the principal seat of the State, he judged it
to be safer, less expensive, more dignified and more conducive to
authority to live there.” The Duke evidently mistrusted his subjects
and had German soldiers, _Lanzknechte_, as his guards. Their quarters
were close to the Loggia de’ Signori, in which they lounged during
the day and which ever since has been called the Loggia de’ Lanzi.
Having established himself in the old palace Cosimo called in Tasso,
an admirable carver in wood and a good architect,[113] and ordered him
to add to it by incorporating the two fine residences of the Captain
and the Executor of Justice, and a large house with a courtyard where
the lions were kept, which were then sent to S. Marco. These orders
were only partially carried out as will be seen later on. Tasso
superintended the works besides carving the windows, doors, ceilings
and cornices, while Vasari, to whom the Duke took a fancy in 1550 when
he presented him with a copy of his _Lives of the Painters_, began to
paint the rooms. For the description of all he did I must refer my
readers to his own delightful book, but no wonder he remarked, after he
had raised the roof of the great Hall of the Five Hundred and, aided
by his pupils, frescoed it all over, rebuilt the staircases, made two
floors where originally there was but one, etc. etc., that Arnolfo,
Michelozzo and others, who had worked at the palace from the beginning
would not recognize it and would think it was not theirs, but a new
marvel and another edifice. Vasari however omits to mention that he
sacrilegiously destroyed the work of Leonardo da Vinci. Mr. Berenson
has kindly called my attention to a letter written in 1549 by Anton
Francesco Doni to Alberto Lollio who was going to visit Florence.
Doni gives him excellent advice and after mentioning the “Giant” by
Michelangelo at the door of Palazzo Vecchio, etc., he continues: “mount
then the stairs to the great hall and carefully consider the group of
horses and men (part of a battlepiece by Leonardo da Vinci), which you
will see to be a miraculous thing.”[114] So that Leonardo’s fresco was
in existence when Vasari began to paint in the Palazzo Vecchio.
After the death of Tasso the whole work was confided to Vasari, whose
task was rendered easier as the Court moved into the Palazzo Pitti.
Bronzino was called in to decorate the Duchess’s former apartments on
the second floor of the old palace. In the chapel he painted three
episodes from the life of Moses and an altarpiece, which was considered
so fine that the Duke sent it as a present to Granvela in Flanders, and
another was painted by Bronzino, now in the Gallery of the Uffizi.
Among the rooms built by Vasari on the second floor is a large one
which served as a _guardaroba_, with cupboards all round the walls.
It bears the name of _Sala del Mappamondo_, from the paintings on the
cupboard doors by Egnazio Danti, a Dominican friar. For eight years
he worked at these curious geographical maps until, for some unknown
reason, he fell into disgrace, when they were continued, but not
finished, by another friar, Don Stefano Buonsignore. These fifty-three
large maps are exceedingly interesting, and merit more attention than
they generally receive.
For the marriage of Francesco de’ Medici to the Archduchess Joan of
Austria the old palace was sumptuously decorated. Round the courtyard,
in the centre of which Cosimo I. had already placed a basin of porphyry
with Verrocchio’s exquisite little bronze boy throttling a dolphin,
were painted views of the principal cities of Austria by pupils of
Vasari in honour of the Princess. At the same time the columns were
encrusted with garlands of fruit, flowers and leaves, upheld by “putti”
and grotesque masks in stucco. But the greatest work Vasari did for
this marriage was the corridor connecting the Palazzo Vecchio with
the Palazzo Pitti. On the 12th March, 1565, Messer Tommaso de’ Medici
signed a contract, in the Duke’s name, with the master-mason Bernardo
d’Antonio, in which the latter promises to finish a corridor between
the two palaces by September. He obliges himself “to build two arches,
one above the street where is the Dogana to the wall of the church of
S. Piero Scheraggio, the second above the said church; and another
arch at the house of Signor Trajano Boba, servant of His Excellency;
and along the Lung’Arno a corridor with arches and pilasters as far as
the Ponte Vecchio, proceeding onwards above the shops and houses of
the said bridge on the side looking towards the Ponte a Rubaconte, and
round the tower of the house of Matteo Mannelli by means of brackets
of stone. From this tower another arch, spanning the Via de’ Bardi,
shall repose upon the tower of the Guelph party opposite the house of
the Mannelli. The corridor is then to follow the small alley behind
the houses facing the principal street, and pass above the steps of
the church of Sta. Felicita, where is to be built a loggia. Thence
the corridor, supported on pilasters along the whole length of the
cloisters of the priests of Sta. Felicita, shall gradually descend
to the level of the garden of the Pitti. The said corridor and its
adjuncts are to be roofed in, the ceilings plastered, whitewashed and
finished, according to the order, design and model, given from time to
time by the magnificent and excellent Master Giorgio Vasari, painter
and architect of the aforesaid most Illustrious Excellency. The said
Messer Tommaso declaring that he binds himself to remove any and every
difficulty that may be thrown in the way of the said Master Bernardo,
especially by the various owners of the houses, above or by the side of
which this corridor is to be built.”[115]
Agostino Lapini records in his diary that the foundations of the first
pilaster of the corridor were laid on the 19th March, 1565, and that it
was entirely finished by the end of November, and six years later shops
were built [along the Lung’Arno] in the arches. The passage between
the two galleries was only thrown open to the public in 1866; and
eighteen years later, on the proposal of Prince Corsini, then Syndic
of Florence, the shops under the corridor in the Via degl’Archibusieri
were swept away, to the great convenience of foot-passengers and the
improvement of the view.
In 1569 the ambition of Cosimo I. was gratified. Pope Pius V. bestowed
upon him and his heirs the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany, and on the
13th December Don Michele Bonelli, the Pope’s nephew, presented the
Papal Bull to him in the Hall of the Five Hundred in the presence of
his sons, the Papal Nuncio, the ambassadors of Ferrara and Lucca, the
Senate of the Forty-eight, the magistrates of the city, the knights
of S. Stefano, the nobles, and the representatives of the people.
A many-rayed regal crown, with a red lily, the ancient emblem of
Florence, in the centre, as ordered by the Pope, was placed above the
Medici arms all over the city, and Cosimo’s subjects were informed that
henceforth he was to be addressed as “Highness.” Like all his race, he
loved festivities and splendour, and in carnival time the old hall in
the Palazzo Vecchio was the scene of many banquets to the fair ladies
of Florence, followed by recitations and plays with elaborate scenic
effects. After Cosimo’s marriage with Camilla Martelli he withdrew
almost entirely from public life, and his son Francesco lived in the
Palazzo Vecchio until he succeeded to the throne.
We hear little about the palace until it was once more decorated and
embellished by Poccetti for the wedding of the Cardinal Ferdinando de’
Medici, who left the Church to ascend the throne and marry Christine
of Lorraine. He added considerably to the palace on the eastern side,
“where,” writes an old chronicler, “from the great door made by Tasso,
carpenter and architect, as far as the corner of the said palace which
is opposite to Borgo de’ Greci where one turns to go into the Piazza,
there was an old and ugly curtain wall, eight or ten braccie high, so
that the rooms of the palace near the said door were exposed to the
view of all who passed by, and one saw balconies, terraces, little
gardens and such-like. And between the said rooms and the curtain wall
we have just mentioned, was a large vacant space full of rubbish,
where in the time of the Signoria the lions had been kept.... Seeing
all this ugliness, the Cardinal decided that the palace should have
a fine and lordly façade behind as it had in front, that the number
of rooms should be increased, another courtyard be made, and many
other conveniences. Bernardo Buontalenti was ordered to make a design,
and the work was at once begun. In a few years the handsome and rich
façade we now see was finished, all of hewn stone and ‘_bozzi_,’ in the
rustic style. It has a grand air, and contains many fine rooms, and a
courtyard in the centre.”
In those days great sculptors worked even in sugar for their patrons,
as when Maria de’ Medici was married by proxy to Henry IV. of France
in 1600, Giovanni da Bologna modelled various figures and statues in
confectionery and in sugar, which were moved by hidden mechanism. Among
them was an effigy of the King of France, mounted on a charger which
trotted down the table in front of the Queen. He also arranged a huge
_fleur-de-lis_, built up of an infinite number of gold and silver cups
and goblets, statues of gold and silver, vases of rock crystal, and
ornaments inlaid with precious stones, in the Sala of Leo X. in the
Palazzo Vecchio.
The marriage of Cosimo de’ Medici, son of the Grand Duke Ferdinando I.,
with the Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria, was celebrated with
extraordinary pomp in 1607. A great banquet was given in the Hall of
the Five Hundred to the Florentine nobility, of which an anonymous
eyewitness has left a long description. Two hundred and forty ladies
sat opposite the Princes, as “being more fair to look upon than men,”
and after dinner appeared a Venus’ shell gliding forward on sham waves,
which bore Zephyr, the messenger of the goddess who, stopping in front
of the bride, offered her all his mistress could give. Then came
the chariot of Venus drawn by black sparrows in which sat Love, who
declared all he had was hers. On the raising of a curtain at the end of
the hall, angels floating among clouds were seen, who chanted:
“E sol risuona,
E Maddalena intuona
La valle, il colle, il monte, il prato il bosco
Di questo lido Tosco,
E’l Ciel, l’Aria, e la Terra e l’Onda piena
Cosmo, Cosmo risponde, e Maddalena.”
After this the Princes retired by the corridor to the Palazzo Pitti,
the Archduchess graciously inviting the ladies present to follow her as
far as the gallery, where a long row of tables were laden with delicate
sugarplums and confectionery. What they could not eat or carry away
was seized by the populace which streamed in; the Princes watched with
great amusement the demolition of all that rare food, and then withdrew
to their rooms.
Cosimo II. and his Austrian wife only used the old palace occasionally
for receptions and banquets. Their son, that morose bigot Cosimo III.,
when he lost all hope of seeing any descendants from his two sons,
proclaimed his daughter Anna Maria Luisa, married to the Elector
Palatine, heiress to the throne in the great hall. His proclamation
was, however, futile, and in 1723 his son Giovan Gastone solemnly
received the Infante Don Carlos at the door of the Palazzo Vecchio as
heir to the throne. Austria, however, interfered, and Francesco of
Lorraine was proclaimed as future Grand Duke of Tuscany. In 1737 his
representative received the oath of allegiance, and two years later
the Grand Duke visited Florence, and splendid festivities were given
in his honour. But the Florentines were very sore at his departure
for Vienna after a short visit, and still sorer at the invasion of
Lorrainers and Austrians, who filled so many of the Government posts.
In 1745 Francesco II. became Emperor of Austria, and his second son
Pietro Leopoldo succeeded to the Grand Duchy. Zoby, in his _History of
Tuscany_, describes how the Senate of the Forty-eight, the Council of
the Two Hundred and the principal magistrates of Florence, assembled in
the great hall of the Palazzo Vecchio, where a throne had been placed
for the Grand Duke. The late Emperor’s will, leaving Tuscany to his
second son, was read aloud, and at the same time the renunciation by
the Emperor Joseph to any claims thereon. But Joseph died, and once
more a Tuscan Grand Duke became Emperor of Austria, to the sorrow of
his Italian subjects, who had learned to appreciate Pietro Leopoldo
at his proper value. His second son, Ferdinando, became Grand Duke,
and in 1791 a fair was held in the Piazza, the Loggia de’ Lanzi was
turned into a garden illuminated with many lamps, and a magnificent
pavilion was erected in front of the old palace for the Court. Eight
years later Ferdinando III. with his wife and four children were driven
out of Florence by General Gaulthier in the name Of the Directoire. A
Tree of Liberty was set up in the middle of the Piazza della Signoria,
newly christened della Libertà, and the French flag was hoisted on the
tower of the Palazzo Vecchio. Giovanni da Bologna’s fine statue of
Cosimo III. was about to be destroyed and melted down for the benefit
of the poor, but was saved by the presence of mind of the President of
the _Buon Governo_ and of the advocate Paolini, who remonstrated with
the mob, which had already tied ropes round the horse to pull it down,
saying that it was a pity to destroy the effigy of despotism which now
witnessed the restoration of liberty in Florence. The Marquess Gino
Capponi gives a vivid account of the behaviour of the French soldiers
in his _Ricordi_. He saw them depart, and was in the Piazza when, after
months of silence, the great bell once more rang out at midday and all
present sank on their knees at the beloved sound.
The old palace saw one ruler after another pass through its great hall
like puppets. Ferdinando III. returned for some months, but was soon
driven out again by the French. Then Tuscany for a few years became the
Kingdom of Etruria, only to be merged in the French Empire in 1808, and
the following year Napoleon I. again created a Grand Duchy of Tuscany,
and gave it to his sister Elise Baciocchi, who was already Duchess of
Lucca and Princess of Piombino.
The roof of the Palazzo Vecchio had for some time been in a bad state,
and the municipal architect, G. del Rosso, was charged to survey the
whole building. In 1809 the work began. The reservoir for rain water
made by Michelozzi had become useless, and was only an additional
weight on the columns of the courtyard, so it was done away with, the
cornice was renewed, and windows, which had been arbitrarily pierced
here and there, were closed and the ancient ones restored. Del Rosso
was forced to whitewash the walls of the courtyard, decorated with the
golden lilies of Anjou on a blue ground--an emblem utterly distasteful
to the new ruler. The stucco ornaments of the columns, and the frescoes
in the vaults and round the courtyard had suffered terribly, and were
carefully renovated, but those of the Austrian towns are now once
more almost invisible. In order to avoid the incessant passage of
the soldiers through the courtyard to their guardroom, del Rosso was
ordered to make an entrance from the outside, and this necessitated
the destruction of the old ringhiera, so intimately connected with the
history of Florence. Part of it had already disappeared when Ammannati
set up his huge, ugly fountain at the northern angle--_il Biancone_
the Florentines call it--still it was with unwilling hands that del
Rosso levelled what remained and made the platform, the steps and the
door immediately under the balcony. The ancient Marzocco, which had
lost all semblance of a lion, was removed, and on its beautiful base
was put the one by Donatello (replaced by a copy in 1885). It was at
this time that the Alberghettino was discovered in the tower.
With the fall of Napoleon ended the rule of his sister Elise, and
the Grand Duke Ferdinando III. once more returned to Tuscany. He was
succeeded in 1824 by his son Leopoldo II., under whose reign the
lovely tower of the old palace was restored to its pristine beauty
by having the plaster and whitewash, with which it had been bedaubed
a century before, removed. The architect, Giuseppe Martelli, also
took down one of the supporting corbels of the tower, which being of
friable sandstone was breaking away under the great weight of 67,908
chilogrammes which rested on it. It was replaced by one of hard stone,
and at the same time the arms of the Florentine Republic round the top
of the palace were freed from whitewash and restored.
On the 17th February, 1848, the Grand Duke Leopoldo II. inaugurated the
first parliament of constitutional government in the Hall of the Five
Hundred. But one ministry after another fell, and the following year
the Grand Duke abandoned Tuscany. A provisional government abolished
the Senate and the Council in favour of an assembly of representatives
of the people, elected by universal suffrage. There was fighting in
the streets of Florence and the friends of Austria were scheming to
bring back Leopoldo II., so in April, 1849, a Commission, amongst whom
were Bettino Ricasoli and Gino Capponi, was named, which not only
met in the Palazzo Vecchio to conduct the government of the country,
but lived there as the Republican Signoria had done in former times.
A month later the Austrians entered Florence and the Grand Duke’s
representative took up his abode in the old palace, in front of which
was placed an iron railing where once was the ringhiera, behind which
Austrian sentinels paced backwards and forwards.
On the morning of the 27th April, 1859, Florence awoke to the cry
of _Viva l’Italia_ and the same evening the Grand Ducal family once
more took the well-known road to Vienna, while the tricolour flag
was hoisted on the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio amid the exultant
shouts of the crowd below. Four months later, in the Hall of the Five
Hundred, Baron Ricasoli, a descendant of the Bettino Ricasoli who in
the middle of the XIVth century locked the door and sat upon the keys
until his party had won the day, ended his speech with these words:
“Let us remember that while in this hall, which has not echoed to the
voice of liberty for three centuries, we are dealing with the affairs
of Tuscany, our thoughts must be turned to Italy;” and one by one the
deputies passed in front of the provisional ministry, and dropped into
the urn their votes for the union of Tuscany to the Kingdom of Italy
under King Victor Emanuel.
1860 awoke to the sound of the big bell of the Palazzo Vecchio calling
the people to a plebiscite. The result was proclaimed from the
platform, which had replaced the ancient ringhiera, to the crowd which
had waited for hours in the Piazza, as 366,571 ayes, out of 386,445
voters. H.H. Prince Eugenio of Savoia Carignano, the King’s cousin,
was named Viceroy of Tuscany and Baron Bettino Ricasoli Governor,
with his official residence in the Palazzo Vecchio. Five years later,
when Florence was for a few years the capital of United Italy, the
old palace became the seat of the parliament and was sadly pulled
about. The great Hall of the Five Hundred was arranged as a House
of Parliament, doors were opened to give free access to the various
offices, and room had also to be found for the Ministry for Foreign
Affairs. The architect Falconieri was vehemently attacked and defended
himself in a pamphlet, declaring that he had done his utmost to respect
all that was beautiful, and at all events had finished that part of the
palace in the Via de’ Leone which had been left so long uncompleted.
In 1866 Baron Ricasoli announced in the great hall that Victor Emanuel
had declared war on Austria, and four years later the King himself,
amid delirious enthusiasm, stated that his soldiers had entered Rome.
With this the story of the Palazzo Vecchio comes to an end. It is now
the seat of the municipality of Florence, and it only remains for me to
acknowledge the help I have derived from Signor Aurelio Gotti’s book
_Storia del Palazzo Vecchio in Firenze_.
* * * * *
Arms of the Republic of Florence under the machicolations of the
Palazzo Vecchio.
A white Lily on a red field; the ancient arms of the city.
A red and white Shield divided lengthways; signifying the union of
Florence and Fiesole.
A red Lily on a white field; the arms of the city, 1251.
A blue Shield with the word _Libertas_ in gold letters; the arms of the
Priors of Liberty.
A red Cross on a white field; the arms of the People.
Two golden Keys on an azure (or white) field, placed crossways; the
arms of the Church.
A red Eagle standing on a green Dragon in a white field, a small golden
Lily on the head of the eagle; the arms of the Guelph party. (Really
the arms of Clement III., who bestowed them on the Guelphs in 1365.)
Golden Lilies on an azure field with a golden Bar (rastrello) at top;
the arms of Charles of Anjou.
A shield divided lengthways to the left, golden Lilies on an azure
field to the right, red Stripes on a field or; the arms of King Robert
of Naples.
Under the machicolations of the tower are painted the arms and emblems
of the various quarters of the city. On the southern side are the arms
of S. Spirito, a white Dove with golden rays in her beak on an azure
field: the gonfaloni, or banners, of the quarter of S. Spirito bear
a Ladder on a red field; five Shells on a blue field; a green Dragon
on a red field; a five-thonged Whip on a blue field. On the eastern
side are the arms of S. Croce, a golden Cross on a blue field: the
gonfaloni have a silver shield with a red Cross on a black field with
broad silver rings round it; a Cartwheel on a blue field; a Lion on a
white field. To the west are the arms of S. Maria Novella, a golden Sun
with rays on an azure field: the gonfaloni bear a white Lion on a blue
field; a blue Viper on a gold field; an Unicorn on a blue field; a red
Lion on a white field. S. Giovanni, to the north, has its own Temple
with a suspended Key on either side on a blue field: the gonfaloni bear
two red Keys on a field or; a shield, the upper half red and the lower
of ermine, on a white field; a golden Lion on a blue field; a green
Dragon on a field or. Some of these are almost entirely obliterated.