Santissima Annunziata, Medici Palace, San Lorenzo

Another weekend passed where I didn't go anywhere. Of course, this isn't all bad news because once again, I managed to get done the things I needed to do. My weekend was mostly spent exploring the restaurants I hadn't yet tried (Aqua al 2, Il Gato e Il Volpe and gelato joints such as Grom, Vivoli and somewhere my friend calls "the Tin Can"). Naturally, there are ups to being here and able to walk around. For instance, I get to watch kids chase pigeons beside the Duomo.


The Tour Flavor of the Week featured the Church of Santissima Annunziata, the Medici Palace and San Lorenzo this week. In its founding, the Church of SA was a small oratory for the Servites of Mary but was reconstructed by Michelozzo during the 15th century (thus was Early Renaissance). The interior was then later redone in the 17th-18th centuries in the Baroque style. It features a carved ceiling by Pietro Giambelli and stucco medallions which illustrate miracles done by the Virgin Annunciate. Inside as well, is the Gothic Annunciation Fresco and the Tempietto which surrounds it.

The Chiostrino dei Voti (or Atrium) of the Church of Santa Annunziata was financed by Piero the Gouty and built by Antonio Manetti based on Michelozzo's design which imitates the Medici Palace Courtyard.

"[The cloister] is known as the cloister of the ‘Voti’, because it used to be filled with votive pictures and wax statues decorated with precious ornaments. Today it is famous especially for its magnificent frescoes: the earliest is Alesso Baldovinetti’s Nativity, painted in 1460; Cosimo Rosselli’s Calling of St Philip Benizzi dates from 1476; the other episodes from the life of the Saint were painted by the young Andrea del Sarto in 1510. The Life of the Virgin was narrated in the second decade of the sixteenth century by the youngest and most promising artists of the day: Rosso Fiorentino painted the Assumption, Pontormo the Visitation, and Fraciabigio the Betrothal of the Virgin. Andrea del Sarto, who had already worked on the St Philip Benizzi frescoes, painted between 1511 and 1514 the Nativity of the Virgin and the Arrival of the Magi." (museumsinflorence.com)

In the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata sits the first Early Renaissance building, named the Hospital of the Innocents and designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. Its shape was based on the cube or hemisphere and was financed by the Silk Guild. This was the first orphanage in Florence and received children anonymously through the means of a window with a revolving platform on which abandoned children could be placed.

Next, we got to look at the Medici Riccardi Palace. In the style of the Early Renaissance, this palace was the first of its kind. Originally Brunelleschi had been asked to design it, but Cosimo later asked Michelozzo to construct it instead. The palace is three stories high and once housed the bank's primary office. Later on, it was purchased by the Riccardi family.

In addition to viewing the Neroni Palace, we also got to see the first Florence cathedral built outside of the city walls: the Church of San Lorenzo.

Though remodeled in the 11th century to fit a Romanesque style, San Lorenzo had been first consecrated by Saint Ambrose in 393 AD. Historically, the Medici's intended that Brunelleschi design the façade, but he died without ever having done so. Michelangelo, as well, was asked to create marble statues for its face, but only managed to create the New Sacristy (a burial site for prominent Medici family members). The Old Sacristy had been commissioned by Giovanni di Bicci (Cosimo's father, whose crest displayed 8 red balls), which contains Evangelist-themed medallions by Donatello, bronze doors by the same and tombs (for Medici family members) by Cavalcanti and Andrea del Verrochio. The interior of San Lorenzo imitates the earlier designs of Christian basilicas- most notably a wooden roof and arcades resting on Corinthian columns.

Bibliography

[museumsinflorence.com] http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Santissima-Annunziata.html