Palazzo Medici

Medici rule quote

"In name Florence remained a Republic, while in practice, the Medici functioned rather like princes in their rule over it" - P&R

PV influence + patronage quote

"the heaviness of the rustication + the double lancet windows of the upper stories can only be found in the PV, thus linking the M with the city's main site of sovereignty" - P&R

innovation in Florence quote

"the size, the uniform order, and the allusions to classical forms were new to Florentine architecture" - P&R

overall design influence

- C13th medieval Palazzo Vecchio, official palace of government in Florence - appropriation of government building was kept subtle as Medici were de facto government - building still has powerful visual references that communicates Medici's authority - similarities in tripartite elevation, squared columned courtyard, small ground storey grilled windows, arches + voussoirs, 2-light windows, string course, huge over-hanging cornice, family coat of arms + symbols in arches above windows

first storey

- Piano Nobile - where Medici resided - refined ashlar surface treatment, reflects Medici's elegance - Medici emblem on corners of this floor only - sophisticated 2-light windows (separated by colonnette) within round arches + cut voussoirs - placing living quarters above shops harks back to ancient Roman insula

themes/style/period

- domestic building - classical influence - patronage - form + function

commission

- domestic building for the Medici - designed as huge square block by Michelozzo - Cosimo rejected Brunelleschi's design; deemed it too lavish with potential to cause envy in public (reported by Vasari)

cornice

- huge crowning cornice - proportionate to overall size of building - projects some 10ft out, supported by corbels - decorated with 'egg + dart' motif, traditionally reserved for lavish Corinthian order

ground storey

- in situ rustication + small grilled windows communicate fortification, strength + Medici's protection - mainly for everyday use of working Florentine - once contained open arches with botteghes workshops (since filled with windows designed by Michelangelo) - stone bench runs around walls for all to sit on - philanthropic gesture on Medici's behalf - reminder the storey was for public use

influences of antiquity

- round arches - rustication - cornice - 'egg + dart' motif - Corinthian columns - continuous frieze with swags - roundels - groined surrounding walkways - squared, open central courtyard; used in antiquity but more a direct influence of Palazzo Vecchio

overall function

- sheer size + scale towered over adjacent houses = assertion of M's wealth, power, grandeur, strength - references to PV show their appropriation of civic authority for themselves - reassertion of power after exile - Cosimo was confident in doing so a decade after being summoned back to Florence by people in 1434, only 1 year after being exiled

patronage relating to antiquity

- showed off Medici's erudite + learned nature - their awareness + appropriation of classical architectural features would be recognised by other intellectuals

second/final storey

- similarly organised fenestration to PN but does not contain emblem - possibly where servants resided - wall surface = less pronounced; creates overall sense of vertical recession, building appears even taller from street level

structure

- tripartite elevation - visually separated by string course - surface treatment applied in situ onto concrete (new Renaissance practice) - only non in situ = cornice + bench

courtyard

- visible through open archways - arcaded with peristyle of Corinthian columns supporting the arches - continuous frieze containing 'graffiti' drawn swags - sculpted roundels - groined surrounding walkways

commissioner

Cosimo de Medici (the Elder)

architect

Michelozzo di Bartolomeo

symbols in arches

PM = 'M' for Medici PV = alternating Crosses + Lilly's - traditional symbols of Florence

location

Via Larga, Florence

date

c.1444-1460

materials

pieta forte stone + concrete