The Last Lectures with Dr. Fantoni and Dr. Medicus
Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio "The Room of the Five Hundred"
Porphyry basin in the courtyard " Boy with a Fish" by Verrochio 1476
Dr. Fantoni led the way with our last lectures inside of the Palazzo Vecchio. The lectures took on a historical life of the Medici and their rise to fame. It appears they were not truly a noble class family, they were bankers and quite wealthy, with resources at an abundance. They cleverly used their financial powers to gain their influence in Firenze that eventually had ties to Rome. Pope Leo X (1475-1478)was Lorenzo's second son, he protected artists and writers at the papal court but also had to deal with Luther's Reformation. This familial connection to Rome secured their fate and legitimacy as worthy leaders of Florence whether noble or not and they ruled Florence for at least two centuries. The cycles (frescoes) on the ceiling in the room of five hundred depicts Florence conquering as victors over Pisa and Sienna, in one of the Medici's hands he clenches onto a document with the signature of the Pope from Rome. This mural is extremely important because to have had Rome on your side meant everything and gave the Medici their license to rule as a noble class family.
The ceiling consists of thirty nine panels which you must take time to read in proper historical chronology in order to understand what and when Florence conquered the nearby regions. I found this lecture to pull everything together for me with relation to the other nobile courts we visited. To think that Machiavelli once roamed this interior space with the Medici as a political and diplomatic missions office holder is quite fascinating for someone who enjoys understanding the intense politic of the day. Men like these were fervent readers of the classics like Plutarch, and Titus Livy. Machiavelli eventually was exiled from the city he loved, and sadly he never saw his Italy he loved so much unified.
http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/spvecch.htm
Porphyry basin in the courtyard " Boy with a Fish" by Verrochio 1476
Dr. Fantoni led the way with our last lectures inside of the Palazzo Vecchio. The lectures took on a historical life of the Medici and their rise to fame. It appears they were not truly a noble class family, they were bankers and quite wealthy, with resources at an abundance. They cleverly used their financial powers to gain their influence in Firenze that eventually had ties to Rome. Pope Leo X (1475-1478)was Lorenzo's second son, he protected artists and writers at the papal court but also had to deal with Luther's Reformation. This familial connection to Rome secured their fate and legitimacy as worthy leaders of Florence whether noble or not and they ruled Florence for at least two centuries. The cycles (frescoes) on the ceiling in the room of five hundred depicts Florence conquering as victors over Pisa and Sienna, in one of the Medici's hands he clenches onto a document with the signature of the Pope from Rome. This mural is extremely important because to have had Rome on your side meant everything and gave the Medici their license to rule as a noble class family.
The ceiling consists of thirty nine panels which you must take time to read in proper historical chronology in order to understand what and when Florence conquered the nearby regions. I found this lecture to pull everything together for me with relation to the other nobile courts we visited. To think that Machiavelli once roamed this interior space with the Medici as a political and diplomatic missions office holder is quite fascinating for someone who enjoys understanding the intense politic of the day. Men like these were fervent readers of the classics like Plutarch, and Titus Livy. Machiavelli eventually was exiled from the city he loved, and sadly he never saw his Italy he loved so much unified.
http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/spvecch.htm
posted by Linda at 7:37 PM
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