From a Kitchen Garden and Grain Market to a Consecrated Church and Chapel! 

On multiple visits to Florence, it seemed as if my timing was always off since the Orsanmichele Museum has very limited visiting days and hours. Needless to say, when I was  finally be able to visit Orsanmichele in late October (before the museums closed due to COVID), I was thrilled. And it was definitely worth the wait…

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“Located halfway between the Palazzo della Signoria and the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Orsanmichele is a unique and extraordinary monument in which the civic and the religious come together as one.”

Orsanmichele translates to “Kitchen Garden of St. Michael” (from the Tuscan contraction of the Italian word orto). The building was constructed on the site of the kitchen garden of the monastery of San Michele.

Located on the Via Calzaiuoli, the church was originally built as a grain market in 1337. Symbolic of the Florentine guilds as well as the prosperity of the Republic of Florence in the 13th century, the granary safeguarded the city against possible years of famine.

In the mid-fourteenth century, the granary was converted into and consecrated as a Christian church to be used as the chapel of Florence’s powerful craft and trade guilds. Completed in 1404, fourteen (14) niches (also referred to as tabernacles) around the outside were assigned to the ‘Arti Maggiori’ or principal guilds (cloth merchants, judges and notaries, bankers, woolworkers, silk weavers, physicians and apothecaries, and furriers) and to the ‘Mediane’ or medium guilds (butchers, cobblers, stonemasons and woodworkers, blacksmiths, linen workers and rag men), and to the guild of the armorers and sword makers. The most important tabernacle, in the center of the façade facing Via de’ Calzaioli, was assigned first to the Parte Guelfa and then to the Tribunal of the Mercatanzia.

Luca della Robbia Tondos representing the giglio, coat of arms and symbol of Florence, Madonna and child, the coat of arms (stemma) of the stone cutters, and the coat of arms (stemma) of the silk weavers.

They all commissioned sculptures of their patron saints from the most illustrious 15th and 16th century Florentine artists including Donatello, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Giambologna, and del Verrocchio.

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♦ Chiesa di Orsanmichele

A visit begins with the church…a lovely jewel box where you are invited to pause and behold the frescoed arches, stained glass windows, splendid altar dedicated to Sant’Anna, and ultimately to the magnificent Madonna delle Grazie marble altar by Andrea Orcagna.

Adorned with Virtues and scenes from the life of the Virgin in relief, the Madonna was commissioned a year after the plague (1355) but not finished until 1359. At various times, miracles were attributed to her and doubtless she still evokes admiration if not reverence.

In non-COVID times, Holy Mass is still regularly celebrated here.

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♦ Museo di Orsanmichele

Today, the statues on the exterior are copies and the original sculptures can be found on the first floor of Orsanmichele’s museum (with the exception of Donatello’s St. George which is in the Bargello).

Arranged in the same positions as the exterior, the sculptures, some in bronze and some in marble, are impressive viewed from the exterior but to experience them “up close and personal” is an incredibly moving experience.

(I have paired my photos of the copies in the exterior niches with their originals inside the museum along with the name of the artist in parentheses.)

Madonna of the Rose (Tedesco)

St. John the Baptist (Ghiberti)

St. Peter (Brunelleschi)

Four Crowned Saints (di Banco)

St Luke (Giambologna)

St. Mathew (Ghiberti)

Measuring well over seven and up to almost nine feet tall, they are literally larger than life …as it should be since they are saints, right?!! And, without a doubt, being able to examine the exquisite detail of these powerful statues more closely engenders a new level of appreciation.

St. Thomas (del Verrocchio)

St. Stephen (Ghiberti)

St. James (Lamberti)

St. Philip (di Banco)

St. John the Evangelist (da Montelupo)

St. Eligius (di Banco)

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Climbing up the stairwell, you arrive at the museum’s second floor…

Vantage point from the highest point of the structure— where you can enjoy a unique and unparalleled panorama of Florence. Fabulous…and so worth the wait!

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I do hope you have the opportunity to visit this museum, one of so many worthwhile museums here in Firenze…

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• All Photos are My Own ©

• CLICK HERE For Links to Other Museum Visits You May Enjoy!

• SOURCES:

Museums in Florence
Gruppo Musei – Bargello/Orsanmichele
Wikipedia

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♦ Victoria & Friends ♦