Pitti Palace Pitti Palace, in Italian Palazzo Pitti, is located on the south side of the river Arno in Florence Italy. The palace was built in 1458 based on a design by famous architect Filippo Brunelleschi. The Pitti family, who where the richest family in Florence during a 300 year period, had the palace built as a residence. In 1549 Eleonora from Toledo bought it from the Pitti family and now it belonged to the Medici family who connected Palazzo Pitti to Palazzo Vecchio through the famous … [Read more...] about Florence Italy – Pitti Palace art
Madonna della seggiola – Raphael
Raphael Madonna Della Seggiola Madonna Della Seggiola (Madonna of the chair) is a painting created by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael. between 1513 and 1514. Raphael was born in Urbino Italy in 1483 and died in 1520 in Rome on his 37th birthday. Raphael is also called Raffaello Sanzio, Raffaello Santi or Raffaello da Urbino. It's the same magnificent painter who's life is described in the famous Le Vite by Giorgio Vasari, which immediately places him amongst the big names of the … [Read more...] about Madonna della seggiola – Raphael
Journey of the Magi – Benozzo Gozzoli – Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
Journey of the Magi Journey of the Magi is a fresco created by Benozzo Gozzoli, who was born in Florence Italy in 1420. This typical Florentine painter was schooled as a goldsmith and worked on the famous bronze Gates of Paradise together with Lorenzo Ghiberti. The Journey of the Magi to Bethlehem was ordered by Piero di Cosimo de' Medici (also called Piero the Gouty) and created between 1459 and 1460 as a decoration of the private chapel of the Medici family which is now called the Magi … [Read more...] about Journey of the Magi – Benozzo Gozzoli – Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
Florence Italy – Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi Palazzo Medici was the palace and residence of the Medici family. After Cosimo de' Medici the Elder gave Michelozzo the order to build it in 1444 the Medici lived in the palace for almost a hundred years. The palace was then sold to the Riccardi family and that is why the name for the palace is now officially Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. The palace has two floors around a courtyard with a high colonnade with statues dating from the 16th century. The palace has its own small … [Read more...] about Florence Italy – Palazzo Medici-Riccardi
Florence Duomo
The Duomo in Florence Italy is actually called Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the complete building is referred to as Duomo, not only the dome on top, which is called the Cupola. This is a confusing fact, because the word Duomo really sounds a lot like it represents the dome, which it does not. When you refer to the dome on top of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore you speak of the Cupola, when you speak of the cathedral itself refer to Florence Duomo, or Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore … [Read more...] about Florence Duomo
Agnolo Bronzino Deposition of Christ
Agnolo Bronzino Deposition of Christ is a painting you can see twice, given you make a trip to Florence and another to Besançon in France. Bronzino, who was the official painter at the court of Cosimo I de Medici, was ordered the painting and then, again, he was asked to make another copy: why? Because the Medici family was anxious to consolidate the power it had conquered with difficulty, and needed powerful friends. Let's move on and discover more on this strange story. … [Read more...] about Agnolo Bronzino Deposition of Christ