We begin with the medieval church of Orsanmichele, a former grain market and magnificently decorated with statues commissioned by some of the city’s ancient trade guilds. This visit helps us understand both the importance of the guilds as well as the economic and commercial atmosphere of the city during the Middle Ages. The recently restored statues are now on display on the first floor of the church (open only on Mondays); the museum is free of charge. It is also worth entering the church to see the gothic marble tabernacle by Andrea Orcagna.
We continue to the church of Santa Croce to discuss the importance of certain religious orders in medieval Florence, mainly the Franciscans and the Dominicans. Both orders created huge piazzas for preaching to the masses.
The Franciscans built their church and piazza in the wool workers’ neighbourhood of the city, the Santa Croce district.
Santa Croce is a church museum where we admire the frescoes of the private chapels of wealthy patrons. Giotto decorated the two most famous chapels of the church, the Bardi and the Peruzzi Chapels. It also houses works by artists such as Cimabue, Donatello and Della Robbia, as well as Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel. The church hosts the tombs of distinguished Italians such as: Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Rossini.
On the other side of the city, the Dominicans, an active order at the time, built another large basilica: the Gothic church of Santa Maria Novella. Here we admire stunning, vivid frescoes by Ghirlandaio and Masaccio. The fresco cycle by Ghirlandaio, depicting the lives of Mary and John the Baptist, is a colourful and detailed composition reflecting Florentine life in the late 15th century. The frescoes are like tableaux vivants; many of the figures are the artist’s contemporaries, dressed in the fashion of the time. The other important fresco, a trompe l’oeil that appears as a chapel, is the Trinity painted by Masaccio in 1426. It represents God the Father supporting Jesus, with the holy spirit depicted as a dove. The setting of this Trinity is a magnificent Renaissance chapel, very similar in architectural detail to the work of Masaccio’s friend Brunelleschi. Masaccio changed the history of western art in this very painting - he was the first then-modern painter to represent man in nature. If you stand in front of the chapel you will find the “vanishing point” (the point where all the lines intersect) where you can enjoy fascinating mathematical perspective.
We continue to the old Pharmacy of Santa Maria Novella, one of the oldest Pharmacies in the world. The Pharmacy was created by the Dominican friars shortly after 1221, the year of their arrival in Florence. In the garden, the friars grew the herbs they needed to prepare medications, balms and creams for the monastery's infirmary. In 1612 the Dominicans received permission from the Grand Duke to open this little store - the Pharmacy was opened to the public and their herbal secrets became internationally renowned. The essences, the much requested perfumes, pomades, spirits and liqueurs are still mainly prepared according to the formulas discovered in 1500.
The history of 'Eau de Cologne' is quite special in this regard: legend has it that it was this perfume Caterina de’ Medici, future queen of France, took with her to Paris, where it was called 'eau de la reine'.
Later, Giovanni Paolo Feminis changed its name when he moved to Cologne in 1725, and began to produce the perfume there.
'Acqua di rose', rose water, was already on sale in this Pharmacy in the second half of the 14th century.
Other favorites include the perfumed powders, used by royals from Queen Victoria to Lady Diana, produced from the ground bulbs of the iris. This
flower grows wild on the hills around Florence in such profusion that it has been adopted as the lily symbol of the city, still represented in Florence’s coat of arms.
Details:
-Duration: 3 hours
-The cost of the tour is € 180
-Admission fees: € 3,50 Santa Maria Novella
€ 5 Santa Croce (children under 18 do not pay)
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