Il palazzo dei Medici
top of page |
|
Architectural and artistic events |
Historical, cultural and world events |
| The Palazzo of the Medici |
| 1443 Cosimo
de’ Medici, known as “il Vecchio”,
buys a number of houses on the site where the new palazzo will
later be built. He rejects the design presented by Filippo
Brunelleschi. |
|
| c.
1445 – Michelozzo begins the construction of Palazzo Medici on commission from Cosimo
il Vecchio de’ Medici. |
|
| 1449-1450
– The construction of the chapel
on the first floor begins
under the direction of Michelozzo. |
1449
– birth of Lorenzo
(later known as “il Magnifico”) son of Piero di Cosimo de’ Medici and of Lucrezia
Tornabuoni. |
| 1459
– In July Benozzo
Gozzoli begins to fresco the walls of the chapel, magnificently completing
the decoration with the pictorial cycle of the Procession
of the Magi. |
1459
– In the Spring Italian princes and cardinals come to
Florence to join Pope
Pius II Piccolomini who is going to Mantua to summon a Council. The Pope defines the
Medici residence as “a palace fit for a king”. On this
occasion Galeazzo
Maria Sforza,
son of Francesco, Duke of Milan, stays in the new palazzo as
Cosimo de’ Medici’s guest and pays an admiring visit
to the, as yet unfrescoed, chapel. |
| 1468
– Piero
de’ Medici, known as “il Gottoso”,
annexes to the palazzo two adjacent houses which he has just
purchased, and sets up the two service courtyards in this area. |
|
| |
1469
– On 4 June magnificent celebrations for the wedding of Lorenzo
il Magnifico and Clarice Orsini. |
| |
1492
– On 9 March Lorenzo
il Magnifico attends the celebrations for the appointment of his son, Giovanni,
as Cardinal. He dies shortly afterwards, on 8 April, in the Villa
of Careggi. He is succeeded by his son, Piero
known as “lo Sfortunato”. |
| |
1494 – On 9 November, the
Florentines, led by Fra Girolamo Savonarola, the Prior of
the Convent of San Marco, rebel and send Piero de’ Medici
and his family into exile. Between 17 and 28 November Charles
VIII of Valois, King of France, enters the city in triumph and
stays in Palazzo Medici for the time necessary to draw up an
agreement of non-aggression with the new-born republic. |
| |
1512
– The
Medici return to Florence:
in September the sons of Lorenzo il Magnifico, Giuliano (later
Duke of Nemours) and Giovanni, Cardinal and Papal legate,
reappropriate the palazzo in Via Larga, followed by their nephew
Lorenzo, later Duke of Urbino. A few months later, on 11 March
1513 Giovanni is elected Pope with the name of Leo
X. |
| 1517
- Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, who has become the
“captain” of the Florentine Republic, has the corner
loggia of the Via Large residence closed in. In the place of the arcades,
the ‘inginocchiate’ or ‘kneeling’ windows are constructed to a design by Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Possibly
on the same occasion, the northern doorway is also closed, again
replaced by an ‘inginocchiata’ window. |
|
| |
1530
– On 20 August the Republican Signoria, re-established three
years earlier, resigns. With the support of the Emperor Charles
V, Pope
Clement VII de’ Medici thus returns his own dynasty to power, and the
family moves back into the Via Larga palazzo in Florence. |
| 1531
– In the Via Larga building annexed to the palazzo since
1468, the “Porta
dei Muli” is built, a doorway giving access to the “Corte dei muli”
(Courtyard
of the Mules) and
to the “Cortiletto del pozzo” ( Courtyard
of the well). |
1531
– On 5 July Alessandro
de’ Medici,
elected Duke by a charter of the Emperor Charles V of Habsburg,
enters Florence in the role of sovereign. Alessandro was said to
have been the illegitimate son of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, later
legitimised, but in all probability he was the son of Pope Clement
VII, who actively supported his ascent to power. |
| |
1536
– In April Duke Alessandro welcomes to Florence the
Emperor Charles V, on an official visit as his future father-in-law. Alessandro and
Margaret of Habsburg are married on 13 June. |
| |
1537
– After the assassination of Duke Alessandro on 9 January,
Cosimo, the son of Giovanni delle Bande Nere and the last
descendant of the younger line of the Medici family, takes up
residence in the palazzo in Via Larga and becomes Duke
Cosimo I (in
1569 Grand-duke). |
| |
1540
– On 15 May, on the feast of Pentecost, Cosimo
I and his wife Eleonora di Toledo leave Palazzo Medici and make a solemn procession to mark the transfer of their
residence to Palazzo della Signoria, which had always been the
site of the civic government. The palazzo in Via Larga is left to
the younger members of the family. |
| |
1659
– Through a contract dated 28 March, the Grand-duke Ferdinando II de’ Medici sells to Marquis
Gabbriello Riccardi the old Via Larga palazzo, along with three
adjacent buildings for the sum of forty thousand scudi. |
The palazzo from the Medici to the Riccardi
top of page |
| c.
1659-1669 – The marquis Gabbriello Riccardi, the Chief
Steward at the Grand-ducal Court, together with his family leaves
his residence in Valfonda to move into the palazzo just purchased
from the Medici. Here he launches an extensive renovation project
directed by Ferdinando
Tacca. |
1665
– The famous sculptor and architect, Gianlorenzo Bernini,
travelling from Rome to France, stops in Florence as the guest of
Gabbriello Riccardi.
1669
– Francesco Riccardi marries Cassandra Capponi |
| 1670-1685
– The architect to the Grand-ducal court, Pier
Maria Baldi,
directs the second, and most important, phase of the alterations
to Palazzo Medici Riccardi. The building is extended northwards,
and the facade on Via Larga consequently lengthened. |
1675
– Gabbriello
Riccardi dies. His heir is his nephew, Francesco, who was to give a
significant impetus to the transformation of Palazzo Medici.
1677 – Francesco
Riccardi is appointed Master of the Horse by the Grand-duke Cosimo III de’
Medici. Grand ball in honour of Cosimo III and of Grand Prince Ferdinando. |
| 1682-1685
– Luca
Giordano,
a painter of international fame, frescoes the ceiling of the
first-floor Galleria and that of the reading-room of the Biblioteca. |
|
| c.
1685-1695 - Giovan
Battista Foggini,
who has taken over from Baldi, completes the structural
alterations and directs significant enterprises marked by the
lavish taste of the late Baroque style. Among other elements,
these include the construction of the monumental staircase and the
decoration of the Galleria, of the reception rooms and the
library. Work is also busily engaged on the restoration of the
antiquities and the on the areas in which they are to be
displayed. |
1688
– The collections of the palazzo are enriched by the bequests
left to Cassandra
Capponi, wife
of Francesco Riccardi, on the death of her father, Vincenzo.
1687
– On 21 December the Grand-duke Cosimo III de’ Medici
allows Francesco Riccardi to transfer the
antiquities from the residence in Valfonda to Palazzo Medici.
1689
– In January, sumptuous
reception in honour of the wedding of the Grand Prince Ferdinando,
son of the Grand-duke Cosimo III, to Violante Beatrice of Baveria. |
| 1691 – Completion of the
decoration of the walls of the Galleria. |
|
| |
1693 – Francesco Riccardi is appointed Chief Steward to the court of the Grand-duke Cosimo
III. |
| |
1709 – The Riccardi organise
a reception in honour of Frederick IV, King of Denmark and
Norway, guest of the Grand-duke Cosimo III. |
| 1715
– An inventory of the property marks the conclusion of a long and intensive
period of work. An inscription is set up in the courtyard (cortile d’onore) to celebrate
the palazzo and its guests. |
|
| 1719
– The display of the antique
marbles from the Riccardi collection is set up in the courtyard (cortile
d’onore). |
1719
- Francesco
Riccardi dies, after seeing the transformation of the family residence
almost to completion. |
| |
1814
– Vincenzo
Riccardi sells the palazzo for 49,600 scudi to the Grand-ducal
government,
which had returned to the House of Lorraine after the years of
Napoleonic domination. The Riccardi organise a final reception to
mark their departure. |
Palazzo Medici Riccardi today
top of page |
| 1814
– Under the Grand-ducal government of Ferdinando III of
Lorraine, the premises of the Riccardi palazzo just acquired as
State property are destined to be used as public
offices.
Significant modification work is undertaken, which is to continue
for about a century. |
|
| |
1815
– 9 October, the Grand-ducal government officially declares
the Biblioteca
Riccardiana open to the public. |
| |
1865-1870
– In the period during which Florence was the capital of the
united Italy, Palazzo Medici Riccardi also becomes the premises of
the Ministry
of the interior. |
| 1874
– After the purchase of the palazzo, the Provincial Council
launches a series of modifications of the premises and their layout. These include the construction
of a new staircase leading from the courtyard (delle Colonne)
giving access to the upper floors, and works in the Chapel
of the Magi, with
the opening-up of the present entrance and restoration work in the
interior (1875-1876). |
1874
– The Florence Provincial Authority purchases the palazzo for Lire 500,000: it sets up its own offices and the residential
quarters of the Prefect,
or Provincial Governor. Pre-existing institutions such as the
Questura, (Police Headquarters), the Telegraph Office and the
Biblioteca Riccardiana continue to maintain their premises here. A
little later, the Provincial Authority transfers the Biblioteca Moreniana,
set up in 1870, to a series of rooms adjacent to the Biblioteca Riccardiana. |
| 1911–1926
– The “Commission for the reclamation of Palazzo
Medici Riccardi” launches an important campaign
for the recovery of the palazzo,
to liberate it from the infrastructures constructed over almost a
century for administrative purposes. The prime movers in such
initiatives are the provincial councillor Arturo
Linaker and the architect Enrico
Lusini.
The garden is reclaimed and restored. |
1911
– The “Commission
for the reclamation of Palazzo Medici Riccardi”
is set up. |
| |
1929
– The Museo
Mediceo is set up on the ground floor. |
| |
1938
– On 9 May the official dinner concluding the visit to
Florence of Adolf
Hitler along with Benito
Mussolini is held in the Galleria of Palazzo Medici Riccardi. |
| |
1944
– On 11 August at 7 in the morning, the Tuscan
Committee of National Liberation takes possession of the palazzo and announces the liberation. |
| 1960
– On commission from the Provincial Authority, the architect Giovanni
Michelucci designs a project for an improved utilisation of the premises of
the palazzo. The project envisages, among other things, the
opening of an “inner
passage”
between Via Cavour (formerly Via Larga) and Via Ginori where the
old stables used to be. |
|
| |
1966
– On 4 November the flood which severely strikes the entire city, also causes damage to the
ground floor of Palazzo Medici Riccardi and the Museo
Mediceo. |
| |
1971
– The Museo
Mediceo is closed. |
| 1992
– On the occasion of the celebrations
to mark the centenary of the death of Lorenzo
il Magnifico,
important restoration is carried out in Michelozzo’s
courtyard, in the first-floor Galleria and in the Chapel of the
Magi. |
|
