Florence has been referred to variously by writers as "The cradle of The Renaissance", the "New Athens on the Arno" and indeed part of the layout of the Roman City on which it was founded can be seen in the streets today. Its history reads like fiction - political intrigue, assasination plots, internecine struggles, depositions, floods, fires and bombings. Yet it survives, fiercely proud in its intimate glory, sheltering untold treasures which reveal their stories to those with time to enquire.
Our studies will concentrate on some of the surviving fresco cycles in the city not only from a persepective of a general enquiry but also as a springboard from which to bounce ideas for future A 424 projects.
Meet at 9.45 am. Santa Maria Novella - West facade
Strozzi Chapel, Chiostro Verde, Spanish Chapel, Tornabuoni Chapel
San Miniato del Monte
San Marco, Palazzo Medici
Santa Croce, Sant'Ambrogio
Brancacci Chapel, Ospedale degli Innocenti
Galleria dell'Accademia
Links to airlines flying to Florence
- Meridiana
Founded in 59BC by Julius Caesar at the narrowest point of the River Arno, the city of Florentia flourished in constant rivalry with the older Etruscan settlement on the hill of Fiesole. At the end of the 6th century, Florence formed part of the Lombard kingdom as the invaders from the north overran the Byzantine Empire in Italy. By 1125 Florence was firmly in the Papal camp, successfully holding back the armies of the Holy Roman Emperor.
Commercial success in the 12th century demanded a new form of government to further mercantile interests, leading to the founding of the Commune. Supporting the Guelf (papal) cause, the Commune prospered throughout the 13th century; the florin, first minted in 1235, became the standard currency in Europe.
In 1260 Florence was defeated at Montaperti by Ghibelline (imperial) Siena. The new Ghibelline government in Florence failed to establish itself and in 1284 the Arti Maggiore set up the regime of the Secondo Popolo, ruled by six Priors and excluding the Florentine magnates from high office.
Throughout the 14th century, Florence suffered from the rivalry of the Neri (Blacks) and the Bianchi (Whites - Dante's faction) within the ascendant Guelph party. An appeal to a disposessed Crusader Duke, Walter de Brienne, failed to bring peace. When Edward III of England defaulted on his loans, the great banking families of Bardi and Peruzzi were ruined, opening opportunities for the 'new men'.
With the city weakened by successive plagues, the mercantile oligarchy (popolo grasso) siezed power in 1382 after a revolt by the Ciompi (wool-carders). The new regime pursued an aggressive foreign policy, holding off the seemingly unstoppable Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan and gaining direct access to the sea with the capture of Pisa in 1406. To diffuse concentrations of power in a single family, a policy of banishment caused the Alberti, the Strozzi and the Medici to follow each other into exile.
In 1433 Cosimo di Medici defied his exile, returned to the city and took power. His son, Piero, and grandson, Lorenzo, succeeded him, but were unable to maintain the family's commercial supremacy. Despite surviving an assassination attempt on Lorenzo in 1478, in 1494 the Medici were driven out once more. Under Savonarola, Florence attempted to form a republic, only to be defeated in turn by the forces of the Pope and subsequently by Emperor Charles V, who restored the Medici family to power.
