Palazzo Vecchio Construction began in 1299 Located in

Palazzo Vecchio

• Construction began in 1299 • Located in central Florence at the Piazza della Signoria

The loggia contains some of the world’s finest sculptures

The Palazzo looks like a fortress but contains lovely halls and residential apartments Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of 500)

The Palazzo has been the seat of government in Florence since its construction • Signoria: The governing body of any of the Italian city-states • Republicanism in Florence (guilds) • Resistance to “divine rights, ” control by papacy, Hapsburgs, French throne • Cities, states, nation-states • Northern Italy was a battle-ground, but also a fertile ground for humanistic ideology and creative output.

The character of the Palazzo, the history of Florence, and the flourishing of the Renaissance was shaped fundamentally by the House of Medici from 1434 onwards Cosimo (The Elder, 1389 -1464) Piero (The Gouty, 1416 -1469) Lorenzo (The Magnificent, 1449 -1492)

The House of Medici went on to produce four popes, a queen of France and other notables.

The strong hand of the Medici was interrupted from 14941498 by the interventions of Friar Girolamo Savonarola • Born 1452 • Led expulsion of Lorenzo, republican reforms, construction of Hall of 500 • Preached and passed laws against corruption, usury, gambling, luxury • Sold church property to assist the poor • Excommunicated by the pope in 1497 • Arrested by Medici partisans and burned at the stake in the Piazza 1498 • Presented to the papacy for sainthood 1997

Plaque in Piazza commemorating the spot where Savonarola was hanged and burned

Current appearance of Palazzo Vecchio dates to 1540 s, when Duke Cosimo I and his wife, Eleonora, moved the Medici court • Labyrinth of apartments, chambers, courtyards, and terraces • Rooms decorated by Michealangelo, Donatello and others