Guided tour of the museum of Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio, the most important building in medieval Florence, has always been the political center of the city. A guided tour with your guide allows you to retrace the most important stages of Florence’s political life over the centuries and visit the prestigious residence of the Medici family in the 16th century. The trip with your English-speaking guide will be an opportunity to share the history of the Medici family and to understand the rich iconographic program designed for the decoration of the Salone del Cinquecento and the apartments of the family members. Anecdotes, curiosities, and mysteries will be part of our encounter!

Origins of Palace

. The Palazzo della Signoria, in its military defensive architecture, dominated the center of Piazza della Signoria. It was founded as the seat of the Priori, the main center of the municipality, between 1299 and 1314, designed by medieval architect Arnolfo di Cambio. After the fall of the Republic of Florence and the rise to power of the Medici dynasty, this glorious building became the residence of Duke Cosimo I, who commissioned the architect Vasari to enlarge and beautify it. Vasari, in Cosimo’s service since 1555, created a new artistic language within the Ducal Palace, capable of evoking the ideological and political values of the family’s absolute rule: a majestic ensemble, a political propaganda machine with the creation of the Salone de Cinquecento (1200 sq. m.) and family apartments.

The Salone dei Cinquecento

The Salone dei Cinquecento aims to translate the concepts of glorification of the Medici dynasty into 

images.
On the ceiling, 42 paintings tell the story of Florence: it’s founding in Roman times, the city’s expansion in the 14th century, and, in the center of the ceiling, the Apotheosis of Cosimo, the city’s new duke.

The Duke is crowned by an allegory of the city and surrounded by the coats of arms of the various Arts, symbols of a past on which the Duke bases the prestige of his government. The frescoes on the lower walls depict highlights of the wars against Pisa and Siena. Two important sculptures complete the room’s program: Michelangelo’s Victory and Florence Victorious over Pisa by Giambologna.

The Medici’s Apartments

On the second floor, the Apartment of Cosimo, each room is dedicated to a Medici family figure. On the second floor, the Apartment of the Elements, each room is dedicated to a deity from classical mythology. Intended as a residence, the sumptuousness and richness of the decoration of this apartment will also arouse the awe and admiration of all who enter it. The former apartment of the Priors became the apartment of Duchess Eleonora, wife of Cosimo I. The decoration of these four rooms illustrates the gestures of heroines in an exaltation of female virtues intended to glorify the duchess. After Cosimo and Eleonora, only their son Francis I (father of Maria de’ Medici) lived in the Palace. The other sovereigns preferred the Pitti Palace, the last residence of the Medici family.