Florence: from Santa Maria del Fiore to the Palazzo Pitti

Abstract

The paper is organized in the form of a travelougue and includes brief sketches. It is dedicated to the history of architectural monuments in Florence dated back 13–16 centuries, and traces their development over time. The author writes about the prominent role of the city in the development of modern European culture and emphasizes the fact that today’s urban structure of the historic core of the city retained real signs of development that occurred as early as in ancient Roman era. The author focuses on the relationship of architecture and economic and political life of the society, which is reflected in the development of the typology of buildings and structures, and in the fate of specific buildings. This relationship is examined using examples of a small number of outstanding works of architecture. The author suggests that the experience gained during the construction of the Baptistery where the coating of this type appeared three centuries earlier was used in the formation of the double-layer construction of the dome of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. Special emphasis is placed on the role of the internal functional connections of the complex Palazzo Vecchio — the Uffizi — Vasari Corridor — Palazzo Pitti, which provided safe travelling from the government building Uffizi to the family residence of Palazzo Pitti.

Keywords:

Florence, Renaissance architecture, cultural heritage, social demand, continuity