FLORENCE ITINERARIES
CONTENTS
Introduction
1
Pre-Medicean Florence (1350-1434)
1
Medicean Florence (1434-1492)
2
Savonarola and Machiavelli (1492-1530)
4
Florence 1530-1600
5
INTRODUCTION
You are encouraged to visit Florence during travel week. The following itineraries
are intended to be enjoyable. They are also a way in which you can get to know
Florence better. Each itinerary matches a seminar. Particularly important items
are marked with an *.
For further details, the following guidebooks are recommended:
Borsook, Eve, The Companion Guide to Florence (London, 1997)
Jepson, Tim, et al., The Rough Guide to Tuscany and Umbria, 5th ed. (London,
2003)
Macadam, Alta, Florence, Blue Guide, 8th ed. (London, 2001)
Various, Firenze e Provincia, Touring Club Italiano, 7th ed. (Milan, 1993)
PRE-MEDICEAN FLORENCE (1350-1434)
Centre
Baptistery.
XXIII.
Exterior:
*north and east doors.
Interior: tomb of antipope John
Duomo. Exterior: *the cupola. Interior: frescoes of the mercenary captains John
Hawkwood and Niccolò da Tolentino.
Campanile
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Interior: *Ghiberti, panels from the east door of
the Baptistery; bas reliefs from the Campanile; exhibition on the building of the
cupola.
Loggia del Bigallo
Orsanmichele. Exterior: *tabernacles and statues (copies) by Ghiberti, Donatello,
and Nanni di Banco. Interior: Orcagna, Tabernacle; *original statues from the
exterior.
2
Loggia dei Lanzi
Palazzo Vecchio. Exterior: the alberghetto (‘little hotel’) in the tower where
Cosimo de’ Medici was imprisoned in 1433.
Uffizi. Interior: *works by Giotto, Lorenzo Monaco, and Gentile da Fabriano.
Ponte Vecchio
Palazzo Davanzati
Quartiere di Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella. Interior: frescoes by Nardi di Cione and *Masaccio.
Museo di Santa Maria Novella.
Bonaiuto.
Interior: frescoes by *Uccello and *Andrea di
Quartiere di San Giovanni
Accademia. Interior: works by Orcagna and Lorenzo Monaco.
Loggia dell’Ospedale di San Matteo
Quartiere di Santa Croce
Bargello.
Donatello.
*Interior per se and for *works by Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, and
Santa Croce. Interior: *Rinuccini Chapel in the Sacristy.
Quartiere di Santo Spirito
Santo Spirito. Interior: works by Orcagna and workshop.
Santa Maria del Carmine. *Brancacci Chapel. Many of the original portraits in
the chapel were of leading anti-Mediceans. They were removed following the
triumph of the Medici in 1434 and different faces were added.
San Felice. Interior: Giotto, Crucifix.
Palazzo Capponi delle Rovinate (Via de’ Bardi 36). Exterior. The palace was built
for Niccolò da Uzzano, a leading opponent of the Medici.
Porta San Niccolò
San Miniato al Monte. Interior: frescoes by Spinello Aretino in the Sacristy.
MEDICEAN FLORENCE (1434-1492)
Centre
Duomo. Interior: north sacristy, where Lorenzo de’ Medici took refuge following
the murder of his brother in 1478; bust of Marsilio Ficino.
3
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.
Robbia.
Interior: *works by Donatello and Luca della
Orsanmichele.
Exterior: *Verrocchio, Incredulity of St Thomas (copy), the
original is inside.
Palazzo Vecchio. Interior: Verrocchio, Putto with the Fish; *Donatello, Judith and
Holofernes.
Uffizi. Interior: *works by Uccello, Domenico Veneziano, Piero della Francesca,
Filippo Lippi, Filippino Lippi, Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio,
Verrocchio, Perugino, and Leonardo da Vinci.
Via dello Studio. The former seat of the University of Florence now houses a shop
selling artists’ materials.
Quartiere di Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella.
Brunelleschi, Crucifix.
Exterior: *facade.
Interior: *frescoes by Ghirlandaio;
Ognissanti. Interior: frescoes by Botticelli and Ghirlandaio.
Palazzo Rucellai. *Exterior.
San Pancrazio
Cappella di San Sepolcro
Santa Trìnita. Interior: *Sassetti Chapel, with portraits of Lorenzo de’ Medici and
his children.
Palazzo Strozzi. *Exterior. Interior: *courtyard.
Quartiere di San Giovanni
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. *Exterior. Interior: courtyard; *chapel with portraits of
the Medici.
San Lorenzo. Exterior. Interior: *Donatello, pulpits (with a portrait of Cosimo de’
Medici); Old Sacristy (*architecture by Brunelleschi with *works by Donatello and
Verrocchio).
Sant’Apollonia. Interior: frescoes by Castagno.
Museo di San Marco. *Architecture by Michelozzo with *frescoes by Fra Angelico.
Santissima Annunziata.
frescoes by Castagno.
*Exterior.
Interior: tabernacle by Michelozzo and
Spedale degli Innocenti. *Exterior. Interior: Pinacoteca with works by Botticelli,
Ghirlandaio, and Luca della Robbia.
Accademia. Interior: works by Botticelli and Filippo Lippi.
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Quartiere di Santa Croce
Bargello. Interior: *works by Donatello, Luca della Robbia, Andrea della Robbia,
Verrocchio, Mino da Fiesole, Benedetto da Maiano, Antonio Rossellino, and
Pisanello.
Badia Fiorentina. Interior: works by Filippino Lippi and Mino da Fiesole; Chiostro
degli Aranci.
Santa Croce. Interior: *tombs of Leonardo Bruni and Carlo Marsuppini; *works
by Donatello and Antonio Rossellino; Medici Chapel.
Museo dell’Opera di Santa Croce: *Pazzi Chapel.
Quartiere di Santo Spirito
Palazzo Pitti. Exterior: central section built for Luca Pitti.
Filippo Lippi, Signorelli, Botticelli, and Perugino.
Interior: *works by
Santo Spirito. Exterior. Interior.
San Miniato al Monte. Interior: *Cappella del Crocifisso (with the arms of Piero
de’ Medici); *Chapel of the Cardinal of Portugal; cloister with works by Uccello
and Castagno.
SAVONAROLA AND MACHIAVELLI (1492-1530)
Centre
Duomo. Interior: site of Savonarola’s sermons.
Piazza della Signoria: Michelangelo, David (copy); plaque commemorating the
execution of Savonarola.
Palazzo Vecchio. Exterior: the alberghetto (‘little hotel’) in the tower where
Savonarola was imprisoned in 1498. Interior: *Salone dei Cinquecento, where
the consiglio maggiore met and which was decorated by Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo (both frescoes destroyed); Cancelleria, where Machiavelli worked.
Uffizi. Interior: *works by Raphael, Rosso Fiorentino, Andrea del Sarto, Perugino,
Piero di Cosimo, Michelangelo, and Pontormo.
Quartiere di Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella. Interior: works by Filippino Lippi.
Quartiere di San Giovanni
Biblioteca Laurenziana.
Michelangelo.
Interior: *vestibule and reading room designed by
Medici Chapels. Interior: *New Sacristy, architecture and tombs by Michelangelo.
Museo di S. Marco. Interior: *Savonarola’s cell.
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Santissima Annunziata. Exterior: *atrium with works by Pontormo, Andrea del
Sarto, and Rosso Fiorentino.
Accademia. Interior: *Michelangelo, David and St Matthew.
Quartiere di Santa Croce
Bargello. Interior: Machiavelli was imprisoned and tortured here following the
return of the Medici in 1512; *works by Michelangelo and Iacopo Sansovino.
Santa Croce. Interior: *tomb of Machiavelli.
Casa Buonarroti. Interior: works by Michelangelo.
Quartiere di Santo Spirito
Santa Felicita. Interior: *works by Pontormo.
Palazzi Guicciardini-Benizzi (Via Guicciardini 15).
Exterior: *Birthplace of
Francesco Guicciardini. He wrote the Storia d’Italia here. Machiavelli lived
nearby but his house has been demolished.
Palazzo Pitti. Interior: *works by Raphael, Pontormo, Piero di Cosimo, Titian,
Andrea del Sarto, Perugino, Giorgione, and Fra Bartolomeo.
Santo Spirito. Interior: works by Filippino Lippi and Michelangelo (?)
Porta Romana. Access to the walls built (with the help of Michelangelo) to defend
Florence during the siege of 1529-30.
Around Florence
Certosa del Galluzzo. Interior: *frescoes by Pontormo.
Sant’Andrea in Percussina. Exiled on his farm, Machiavelli wrote The Prince here.
Every day he visited the local tavern. Now a restaurant called the Albergaccio
Serristori, it is recommended.
FLORENCE 1530-1600
Centre
Duomo. Interior: Last Judgement by Vasari and Federico Zucconi.
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. Interior: *Michelangelo, Pietà. He intended this for
his own tomb and the face of Nicodemus is a self-portrait.
Piazza della Signoria: Giambologna, *statue of Cosimo I.
Loggia dei Lanzi: *Cellini, Perseus; Giambologna, *Rape of the Sabines and
Hercules and the Centaur.
Palazzo Vecchio. Interior: *Salone dei Cinquecento; *Studiolo di Francesco I;
*Quartiere di Leone X; *Quartiere degli Elementi; *Quartiere di Eleonora da
Toledo.
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Uffizi. *Exterior and *interior. Interior: *works by Bronzino, Allori, Titian,
Sebastiano del Piombo, Clouet, and Caravaggio.
Corridoio Vasariano. From the Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti.
Museo di Storia della Scienza. Interior: scientific instruments belonging to Galileo
as well as one of his fingers.
Quartiere di Santa Maria Novella
Fortezza da Basso
Quartiere di San Giovanni
S. Lorenzo. Interior: works by Bronzino.
Medici Chapels. Interior: *Cappella dei Principi.
S. Marco. Exterior.
Piazza Santissima Annunziata: Giambologna, statue of Ferdinando I.
Santissima Annunziata. Interior: works by Bronzino.
Via de’ Servi: Palazzo Sforza Almeni (Via de’ Servi 12); Palazzo Niccolini (Via de’
Servi 15).
Quartiere di Santa Croce
Bargello. Interior: *works by Michelangelo, Bandinelli, Cellini, Giambologna, and
Ammannati.
Santa Croce. Interior: *tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo.
Via del Proconsolo/Borgo degli Albizzi. A group of palaces including: Palazzo
Nonfinito (Via del Proconsolo 12); Palazzo Pazzi (Borgo degli Albizzi 28); Palazzo
Ramirez de Montalvo (Borgo degli Albizzi 26).
Quartiere di Santo Spirito
Palazzo Pitti.
Bandinelli.
Exterior: *courtyard.
Interior: *works by Titian, Bronzino, and
Boboli Gardens: *works by Ammannati, Giambologna, Tribolo, Bandinelli, and
Buontalenti.
*Palazzo di Bianca Cappello (Via Maggio 26)
*Forte di Belvedere
Around Florence
*The Medici villas of La Petraia, Castello, Pratolino, and Poggio a Caiano. These
can all be reached by bus.
Jonathan Davies
2003