Piazza della Signoria (open-air museum)
- Barb B
- First Reviewer
- 4 out of 5
- Avg. Member Rating
- 9
- Reviews
-
65
- Photos
Editor Pick
Plaza for Art-Lovers
- November 5, 2009
- Rated 5 of 5 by
airynfaerie from St. Augustine, Florida
Piazza della Signoria is one of the most fascinating squares in the city, and rightfully so, as it's home to amazing sculptures, the main civic building, and intriguing history. Set in an odd shape and with side streets going off in every direction, this piazza lends itself as a center of bustling activity...tourists taking photos, horses carrying buggies, patrons enjoying outdoor cafes, and locals passing through on their way to work.
Located at the end of the main pedestrian thoroughfare, Via dei Calzaioli an just before the Uffizi Galleries and finally the Arno River, PIazza della Signoria is a plaza you'll indefinitely run into during your visit to Florence probably without even trying. You know you've arrived when you suddenly come to a very large open space with the castle-like Palazzo Vecchio towering above. This building has been home to the city's civic offices for centuries and continues to house many official offices today, along with a museum open to visitors.
Just outside the Palazzo are several noteworthy sculptures including the equestrian statue of the duke Cosimo I by Giambologna as well as the Neptune Fountain by Bartolomeo Ammannati. At the doors to the Palazzo is a copy of the famous David by Michelangelo, where the original once stood before it's move to the Accademia Gallery for better indoor preservation. Even though this copy has remained for decades, you'll still sure to see some tourists convinced it's the real thing and chatting amongst themselves in front of it.
To the south end of the piazza is the fabulous open air museum of the Loggia dei Lanzi built in the late 1300s. This arched platform area is open to stroll around in, and includes some amazing pieces like Cellini's bronze Perseus who holds Medusa's head and a copy of Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines (which was moved to the Accademia for restoration). Be sure not to lean or sit on the walls of this loggia as you'll be politely told to get down by the guard on duty. Although it is easy to forget this part is more of a museum than the other ledges throughout the piazza that are open for sitting.
Be sure to find the large round plaque on the ground in front of the Neptune Fountain. This marks the place where the the purist Savonarola was hanged and burned to death in 1498 when the tides changed against him. Just several months earlier in that very spot, he and his followers carried out the Bonfire of the Vanities, where they burned piles of books, luxury items like vanities mirrors and dressed, as well as gambling and gaming tables. You can learn a lot more about him at the San Marco museum where his cell was.
Before heading out of the plaza, make a stop at Rivoire, the cafe there famous for it's hot chocolate. You'll pay a pretty penny for a seat in the outdoor section, but for a little splurge, it's worth it for a view of the active city square.
From journal Visiting the Piazzas of Florence
Editor Pick
The Outdoor Museum of Piazza della Signoria
- February 16, 2009
- Rated 4 of 5 by
manlalakbay from davao, Philippines
For those who may not have the time to go around the many museums of Florence, or for those who prefer not to spend their euros with galleries but still want some exposure to Firenze art, Piazza della Signoria is the best place to go.
The plaza is littered with many marble sculptures from the time of the Renaissance. The sculptures depict many of the Roman gods.
The unclothed sculpture show how the Romans celebrate the human body, as the human body or deities are rendered perfectly and proportionately.
The most eyecatching of all the scultpures is Poseidon fountain. Around the god are water nymphs, sea creatures and horses. In mythology is was actually the water god who created horses as a gift to one of his pursuits.
There are many more sculptures in the plaza, including Hermes stepping on a beheaded body and the head in his hands, a centaur being murdered and other famous stories from Roman mythology.
The square is often crowded with people as restaurants and gelateria line the area. Another thing of interest in Piazza della Signoria are the live statues 'residing' at the steps of the Uffizi Museum. Uffizi is just beside the Plaza.
The live statues are actually mime actors that do so well in not moving. I did not notice them at first. People who put coins by the boxes on their feet may pose for a picture with them. Once a coin is placed, they switch positions often finding a way to acknowledge their giver. I had my own photo with the cupid, who seemed to be enjoying himself. There was also an egyptian pharaoh and what looked like a cavalier to me.
Piazza della Signora is a great place to have a sample of beautiful Italian art as well as the wonders of Italian miming. It's free and interesting, so what more can you ask for!
From journal A Day and a Half in Florence
Editor Pick
Ars Gratia Artis
The endless parade of art that is Florence continues outside the museums in the Piazza della Signoria. This square is like an open-air art gallery. It is as fine a civic diplay as you could ever hope to see. A reproduction of Michelangelo’s ‘David’ stands just outside the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. The original was set up here to celebrate Florence’s vistory over tyranny (eg the Medici). The original now stands in the Accademia, and costs €6.50 to view. Personally I’d advise you just to stick to viewing its identical simulacrum in situ for free. He is flanked by a copy of Donatello’s ‘Marzocco’, the heraldic lion.
Adjacent to this is the raised Loggia dei Lanzi, or Loggia della Signoria. This was not an ornate colonnade as I’d imagined before my trip; instead it is more like a two-story marquee of stone, like a caravan awning. It used to shelter Medici bodyguards or the city worthies on civic occassions. Today it shelters a set of very nice stuatues. Cellini’s bronze ‘Perseus’ holds aloft Medusa’s severed head. Giambologna clearly liked to experiment with the human (or non-human) form, and his works are truly three-dimensional, meant to be viewed from all directions, each aspect giving a different impression of the work. In ‘Hercules and the Centaur Nessus’ the two protagonists are caught mid-fight, muscles straining, Hercules forcing Nessus back awkwardly over his thigh. Even more spectacular is the spiralling ‘Rape of the Sabine’. An elderly bearded man cowers as a despairing young woman is hoisted aloft by her attacker. Each individual faces a different direction.
Another eye-catching in the Piazza is the large Neptune fountain, chiefly the work of Ammannati. It is a great faux pas to admit to liking the huge doughy Neptune. Florentines habitually refer to it dismissively as ‘Il Biancone’ – ‘the big white thing’. Not far from here a plaque in the piazza pavement marks the spot where stood the pyre upon which the messianic friar Fra Girolamo Savonarola was burned for heresy.
From journal Florence, Birth-Place of the Renaissance
Editor Pick
Museo di Palazzo Vecchio
- September 22, 2007
- Rated 4 of 5 by
paolo1899 from Naples, Italy
This massive, Tuscan Gothic crenellated fortress palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany. Overlooking the Piazza della Signoria with its famous copy of Michelangelo's David statue as well the gallery of statues in the adjacent Loggia dei Lanzi, it is one of the most significant public places in Italy. Originally called the Palazzo della Signoria, after the Signoria of Florence, the ruling body of the Republic of Florence, it was also given several other names: Palazzo del Popolo, Palazzo dei Priori, and Palazzo Ducale, in accordance with the varying use of the palace during its long history.
Palazzo Vecchio's exclusive role as the political representative of the city gradually lost importance from 1565 for three centuries, being partly replaced by the Uffizi and the new Palace at Pitti, though it came to the fore again at the end of this last century: after the Lorraine family had been expelled from the city in 1848. It became the seat of United Italy's provisional government from 1865-71, when Florence was the capital of the kingdom of Italy, and housed the Chamber of Deputies (the Senate sat next door in the Uffizi, linked up by an overhead passageway above Via della Ninna). It was to return to its original function as the seat of the City Council in 1872.
Although the palace today contains the offices of the City Council, much of it can still be visited. The public can admire the Hall of the Five Hundred, the little Study of Francesco I and the four monumental apartments: the Quarters of the Elements, the Quarters of Eleonora of Toledo, the Residence of the Priors and the Quarters of Leo X, where the reception rooms of the mayor and the council that governs the city are situated today. The Hall of the Two Hundred is once more being used for the meetings of the City Council and therefore not always opens to the public.
The collection of musical instruments has rarely been shown to the public (soon to be transferred to the "Luigi Cherubini" Conservatory and linked up with the nearby rooms of the Academy Gallery) and the Loeser Collection, on the mezzanine floor, is rarely open to public viewing. The Siviero Collection, much of it formed by works stolen by the Nazis during the last war and since recovered, was also exhibited here fore many years
From journal The Palazzo Vecchio
Editor Pick
Piazza della Signoria
- May 28, 2007
- Rated 5 of 5 by
artslover from Calgary, Alberta
Piazza della Signoria has been the political heart of the city from the Middle Ages to the present day. For a visitor, it is a free outdoor museum.
It gets its name from the most important monument there, Palazzo della Signoria, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio in 1298-99 for the seat of the Republican government. The palace continued to maintain this politically representative function in the city during the reign of the Medici and later under Duke Cosimo I, who lived here between 1540 and 1565, commissioning his court architect, Giorgio Vasari, to double the building in size. When the Grand Duke and his family moved to the new palace of Pitti in 1565, Palazzo della Signoria began to be known as Palazzo Vecchio (the Old Palace).
There is no admission to view the art and it is open every day all year around. We wandered around the piazza a number of times to gaze at the statues and bask in the sunshine. The square has a number of eye-catching statues, most famously, at the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio, is Michelangelo’s David. The statue is a copy of David while the original is kept at the Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts or Galleria Accademia, but that hardly matters when you look up at one of the most iconic statues in the world.
David is not the only statue to admire. Also in the piazza are the bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I by Giambologna (1594); the Fountain of Neptune by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1575); The Lion, referred to as "il Marzocco", with a copy of the Florentine Lily by Donatello; Judith and Holofernes, a copy of the one by Donatello; and Hercules and Cacus by Bandinelli (1533).
Just off to one corner is the Uffizi Gallery and across from the Palazzo Vecchio is the Loggia dei Lanzi. Two more great art venues.
Benvenuto Cellini's statue Perseus With the Head of Medusa is in the Loggia dei Lanzi gallery on the edge of the Piazza della Signoria. This is another splendid open-air museum that evokes centuries of greatness and power.
This is an easy to do must do. You can wander around to inspect everything in the piazza or just relax at one of the cafes or gelaterias and admire from afar.
From journal Arte Firenze