Florence

Text taken from: “Nuovo Dizionario Geografico Universale”, an original Italian work by a society of scholars, Venice, 1828.

FLORENCE, Florentiae, a very fine and ancient city of Italy, capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, situated a short distance from the foothills of the Apennines, in a fertile and pleasant plain surrounded by delightful hills all dotted with villas and castles, and lying on the Arno, which divides it into two unequal parts and is crossed by four bridges, among which the one called Santa Trinità is admired for its elegant architecture. It is almost oval in shape, enclosed by walls, with a castle called St. John the Baptist's. There is also the fort of St. George, situated in the hilly part of the city, which it entirely dominates, called the Belvedere; this fort communicates by a secret gate with the royal garden called Boboli. The city is about 2 leagues in circumference and lies 18 leagues W.S.W. of Livorno, 20 leagues S.W. of Bologna and 55 leagues N.N.W. of Rome, Lat. N. 43° 46'46''; long. E. 8° 55' 38''; taken from the cathedral. Florence, which the whole world agrees in calling the Beautiful, is the residence of the Grand Duke and of the royal family, who live in the magnificent palace called the Pitti, after Luca Pitti, the wealthy citizen who built it. It is the seat of an archbishop, who is the metropolitan of Tuscany, of the civil and military secretariats, of all the administrative directorates of Finance and of all the courts, of a supreme council of final appeal for the whole State, of a civil court for the Florentine district, and of a criminal court for the whole of Tuscany, excluding the lower province of Siena. The streets of this city are for the most part wide, straight and well paved; the Lungarno on the south side, from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte alla Carraja, is very beautiful. Its buildings are fine and sumptuous, and a wealth of excellent paintings and sculptures adorns not only the public buildings and institutions but also the houses of private citizens.

Among the former, the first that deserves to be named is the metropolitan church, or Santa Maria del Fiore, a building that surpasses all the others of the city in merit and whose magnificence bears witness to the happy times of the republic in which it was raised. In 1294 its construction was entrusted to Arnolfo di Lapo, in place of the older church dedicated to Santa Reparata. Besides Arnolfo, this truly sumptuous building was directed by Giotto, Taddeo Gaddi and Orgagna, and Filippo di ser Brunellesco completed the work, conceiving that most graceful dome which perhaps has no equal in the world. This magnificent temple, entirely faced with marbles of various colours, measures 22,118 square braccia. The Wool Guild bore the cost of its construction, which lasted 166 years, with some interruptions. The internal width of the church is 67 braccia and its length 257. The dome, from the floor of the church to the lantern, measures 154 braccia; the small temple of the lantern is 36 braccia high, the ball 4 and the cross 8. Inside, this temple is enriched with paintings, statues and bas-reliefs, especially the choir, entirely of marble, and outside it is adorned above the doors with statues and mosaics. It is served by a numerous clergy, made up of canons, among whom are some dignitaries, of chaplains and of clerics. Here one admires the superb urn containing the ashes of the glorious bishop St. Zenobius, masterfully sculpted in bronze by

by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Beside the temple rises the magnificent tower erected by Taddeo Gaddi to the design of his master Giotto. Free-standing on every side, it is 144 braccia high and 100 in circumference, and is magnificently faced with marbles of various colours and enriched with statues and bas-reliefs by the best artists of its time. The foundations of this magnificent structure were begun in 1334. San Giovanni, the baptistery of the city, is a very ancient free-standing temple, octagonal in form, which some claim was an ancient temple of Mars. In 1293 the merchants' guild had its exterior faced with marble at its own expense, to the design of Arnolfo di Lapo. Inside it is adorned with 16 granite columns supporting a terrace whose parapets, like the vault, are covered with mosaics, a prized work of ancient Tuscan artists. Here one admires the magnificent tomb (a work by Donatello) of the Neapolitan Baldassare Coscia, formerly John XXIII, supreme pontiff, who, having renounced that sublime dignity in order to bring peace to the Church, died a private man in Florence. The church is adorned outside with statues and has 3 bronze doors of marvellous beauty. The one on the south side is by Andrea Pisano; the other two are by Lorenzo Ghiberti and depict various stories from the Old and New Testaments. The middle one is so beautiful that the divine Michelangelo used to say it was worthy to be the door of Paradise. On either side of this door stand two porphyry columns, given to the Florentines by the Pisans when they returned from the conquest of the Balearic Islands. In this church there is an ancient gnomon described by the celebrated Father Ximenes. The foundation of the illustrious basilica of San Lorenzo goes back to the most

remote antiquity, as it was consecrated by St. Ambrose. It was restored several times until, having been reduced to ashes by a fire in 1423, Cosimo de' Medici commissioned Brunellesco to rebuild it in its present form. It is built entirely of macigno sandstone and contains highly prized works of fine art. It is 144 braccia long and 36 wide, and has three naves, each 60 braccia long. Joined to this church is the chapel known as the Cappella dei Depositi, where the ashes of the Medici sovereigns lay, now placed in the vaults below. Its architecture is by Michelangelo, and by his hand too are the sublime and marvellous statues that adorn it. The Grand Duke Ferdinand III, of ever-revered memory, is buried here, to be moved later to the celebrated Medici chapel now being completed, located behind the choir, which for its magnificence and richness may be said to have no equal. It is entirely faced with pietre dure and, besides the tomb of Ferdinand III, contains those of six grand dukes of the house of Medici. The Cavaliere Pietro Benvenuti has been commissioned by the reigning grand duke to paint the dome of this celebrated chapel. Attached to this fine temple is the renowned Medicea Laurenziana library, which contains codices in oriental languages, Greek, Latin and Italian, collected through the munificence of the Medici and of the other grand dukes.

of the library is to a design by Michelangelo; and a new room is now being added to it to house the library of first editions collected by Count Angelo d'Elci and generously donated by him to his native city. The first stone of the great church and convent of Santa Croce of the Conventual Fathers was laid in 1294, to the design of Arnolfo di Lapo, another testimony to the piety and magnificence of the Florentines; indeed it seems impossible that a small number of merchants could at the same time have erected so many grand and beautiful buildings. This sacred building, which may rightly be called the Florentine Pantheon, was restored and embellished in 1566 under the direction of the Cavaliere Giorgio Vasari. It has a great number of altars, all adorned with panels by the most celebrated painters of the Florentine school, beginning with Giotto. The convent, the sacristy and other annexed buildings contain a great number of fine paintings and sculptures, ancient and modern. In this church one admires, among others, the mausoleums of Leonardo Aretino, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Galileo, Machiavelli, Alfieri, Filicaja, the naturalist Micheli and other famous men, and very soon a grand monument to the sublime poet Dante Alighieri will be placed here, which is currently being executed by the sculptor Stefano Ricci. In front of this church is a fine square with a fountain, where in olden times the game of Calcio was played. The superb Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella was begun in 1221 under the direction of Fra Ristoro da Campi, Fra Sisto and Fra Giovanni, lay brothers of the adjoining convent of the same name. The façade is to a design by Leon Battista Alberti. On it are two astronomical monuments made under the direction of Father E. Danti, a friar of this convent, which, like the church, abounds in

very fine monuments of the fine arts. The former houses a celebrated foundry, and the church faces two squares: the Piazza Nuova, where the chariot race (corsa dei Cocchi) is held, with the 2 marble obelisks serving as turning posts, and the other, at the side, called the Piazza Vecchia. The magnificent church of Santo Spirito of the Augustinians has three naves, with the high altar and choir in the middle. It was built to the design of Brunellesco, has a high altar and choir in the middle, and is adorned with statues and bronzes. This church and a convent look onto a fine square with a fountain. The grand and rich church of the Santissima Annunziata, with the convent of the Servite Fathers, is entirely faced with marble and gilded stucco, and contains a quantity of very fine paintings and statues. Its dome, a very fine work by Volterrano, makes it most charming. In this church is venerated the image of the Blessed Virgin of the Annunciation, an object of particular devotion for the Florentine people. Through the piety of the Medici grand dukes its chapel was entirely faced with pietre dure, and it is enriched with a superb silver altar and many candelabra, candlesticks and lamps of the same metal, all offered by the piety of the faithful. The cloister, which serves as an entrance to the church, is adorned with superb lunettes painted in fresco by Andrea del Sarto, which is judged a masterpiece of art.

The square, adorned with three fine loggias, in one of which is the Ospedale degli Innocenti, contains two graceful bronze fountains and the equestrian statue of Ferdinand I, cast from the cannon captured from the Turks by the Knights of St. Stephen. where the republic ordered in 1284 a magnificent portico to serve as a grain market, there now stands the provostal church of Orsanmichele, which is a very large square tower, whose upper part serves as a public archive, in which the records of both the contracts and the wills of the State are deposited, and which is reached by an overhead passage. The lower part serves as a church, where a very ancient image of the Virgin Mary is venerated, for which Orgagna, who converted the loggia into a church, made a sumptuous marble tabernacle in the Gothic taste. The exterior of this church, rich in stonework, is adorned with 16 niches containing the statues of the patron saints of the guilds, some in bronze and the others in marble, among which one admires the St. George carved in marble by Donatello, which is reckoned the most prized of modern statues. For brevity's sake, since this is a short dictionary entry, we shall omit the description of the many churches of this capital, worthy of admiration on a par with its splendid palaces, all adorned with masterpieces of fine art. We cannot, however, refrain from speaking of the Palazzo Vecchio with its annexed buildings, and of the Pitti, where the sovereign resides. The Palazzo Vecchio, raised by the republic as its residence in 1298 to the design of the oft-mentioned Arnolfo, later served as the dwelling of Duke Cosimo, who, to the design of Giorgio Vasari, made superb additions to it, among them the magnificent great hall adorned with statues and paintings, one of the largest and most ornate in Italy. It now houses the royal secretariats, the office of the royal

estates, the royal treasury and the general wardrobe, and other offices. The ground floor, on the side, is the city customs house. The tower of this palace is 160 braccia high. Beside the door facing the square stand the fine statue of David by Buonarroti and the group by Baccio Bandinelli representing Hercules killing Cacus. Next to the palace is the great fountain, with a marble Neptune of gigantic stature by Ammannati, shown in a sea chariot drawn by four horses. The great basin is adorned with satyrs and sea deities, all in bronze and of marvellous workmanship. In the middle of the square is the equestrian statue, also in bronze, of Cosimo I, a sublime work by Giovan Bologna, who also made, as a prized work, the splendid bas-reliefs depicting the principal events in the life of that sovereign. The loggia known as the Loggia dei Lanzi, raised by the republic in 1355 to the design of Orgagna, has only three arches, and for its slenderness, breadth and solidity it is admired as a miracle of art. It is adorned with very fine statues, ancient and modern, such as the four colossal female figures and the two lions

which Pietro Leopoldo had brought from Rome, from the Villa Medici. Here too are Donatello's bronze Judith, Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus, likewise in bronze, and the celebrated group of the Rape of the Sabines, carved in marble by Giovan Bologna. Adjoining it is the building or loggia of the Uffizi, executed by order of Cosimo I by Giorgio Vasari, who managed to incorporate into it the old building of the Royal Mint. The ground floor of the quarters corresponding to these vast loggias serves for the law courts, the middle floor for various offices, and the upper floor for the Royal Gallery, begun by Cardinal Leopoldo and continually enriched by the succeeding Grand Dukes. In its vast corridors and in the many rooms annexed to them one admires a great quantity of the finest ancient statues, among them the Medici Venus, etc., and, besides the masterpieces of the best painters, a magnificent collection of gems, medals, drawings, prints, ancient Egyptian and Etruscan monuments and those of other ancient peoples, bronzes, inscriptions, etc., of which it would take too long to give even a brief description. In 1440 Luca Pitti, a very rich citizen, commissioned Brunellesco to build the great Palace that took his name, and which in 1549 was sold by Bonaccorso Pitti to Cosimo I, when only the central portion existed. All the sovereigns who succeeded him later enlarged it, bringing it to the size in which it is admired today, and joining to it the beautiful Boboli garden. Of this truly worthy royal residence, too, it would take too long to describe the beauty and sumptuousness of every part. Suffice it to say that it houses a collection of paintings by great masters of all schools, perhaps one of the finest in Europe. ........ ......... There is in this city an academy of fine arts, a magnificent institution, presently presided over by Cav. Antonio Montalvi and directed by the celebrated painter Cav. Pietro

Benvenuti. It occupies a grand space on Piazza San Marco, and drawing, life drawing, painting, ornament, architecture and copper engraving are taught there. Besides the schools it has two large and valued galleries, one containing casts of the finest ancient statues, at the end of which is the famous fresco by Giovanni da San Giovanni representing the Flight into Egypt, which the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo had moved in a single piece from the royal garden of the Crocetta, under the direction of the engineer Gasparo Paoletti. ...... ...... This truly magnificent and delightful city, which has 17 squares, 170 statues on public display, 20 fountains, 6 columns and 2 pyramids, is currently divided into three quarters, two on the south side of the Arno and one to the west, in each of which there is a police commissioner. It numbers 28 parishes, over 8,000 houses and about 90,000 inhabitants, not counting foreigners. The Jewish nation enjoys privileges here; it has a ghetto, but since this cannot hold them all, they are also scattered throughout the city, the richest having

acquired comfortable and fine dwellings. All other religious communions are tolerated and protected. The Russians, the English and other Protestants have chapels where they practise their worship. The Jews and the Evangelicals have their own cemeteries here; all the others have theirs at Livorno. Besides the chapter of the Cathedral and that of the imperial Basilica of San Lorenzo, there are many other chapters of priests and various convents of monks and religious of both sexes, as well as several conservatories for the education of girls, who come to them even from other states of Italy; among these the new institute of the Santissima Annunziata stands out in particular, founded with royal munificence by the reigning grand duke and directed by lay ladies, with the grand duchess as its patroness. Besides the external school for poor girls which the Salesian nuns keep attached to their conservatory, there are public schools for poor girls in which all kinds of women's work are taught, up to the art of weaving linen, silk and wool. Here the girls who show good conduct and make progress in their work are encouraged with prizes and dowry grants. Each quarter has free schools where reading, writing and arithmetic are taught to poor children, besides some schools of mutual instruction maintained at the expense of private societies......... . ..... Among the scientific institutions of this illustrious city, it is worth recalling, finally, the celebrated Accademia della Crusca, established in 1582, to which the ancient university founded in 1438 was joined; its principal aim is to preserve and refine the Italian language; the Accademia dei Georgofili, devoted to the progress of agriculture, the arts and commerce. The one called the Cimento, which served as a model for the academies of

London and Paris, existed only from 1657 to 1667. The countryside surrounding Florence, admirably described by Ariosto and industriously cultivated, may be regarded as a continuation of the city itself, so many are the villas and palaces pleasantly scattered here and there and handsomely laid out, besides the magnificent royal suburban villas of Careggi, Castello and Poggio Imperiale, the monastery of the Certosa, etc. We shall say only that about 3 m. from Florence are the remains of the city of FIESOLE, Faesulae or Fesula, one of the 12 Etruscan cities, and the one from which Florence descended. There are the bishop's palace and the seminary, an ancient cathedral and other churches, among them the magnificent basilica of Sant'Alessandro, in which one admires 16 columns of Egyptian cipollino with varied capitals, which are probably the remains of some ancient Etruscan temple. Some remains of an ancient aqueduct and part of its walls of Etruscan construction are still preserved. Part of an amphitheatre has also been excavated, and recently a hoard of Roman consular medals or coins was discovered. Catiline withdrew here after the discovery of his conspiracy. This city was destroyed in 1010 by the Florentines, who used part of its remains to enlarge their own city.