Palazzo Vecchio

Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace), the historic seat of civic government, is also called Palazzo della Signoria (Palace of Government), Palazzo dei Priori (Palace of the Priors) or Palazzo Novo (New Palace). This last term distinguishes it from previous government buildings, most notably the Torre della Castagna and the Bargello, that preceded Palazzo Vecchio in this role. The name Palazzo Vecchio came into use in 1565, to differentiate it from Grand Duke Cosimo I’s new Pitti palace.

Unlike other Italian cities, Florence’s tower is somewhat off-center with respect to the rest of it. This is because it was built in a location where there was already another tower (called the Vacca, or Cow), which was incorporated into Arnolfo di Cambio’s plans. The first phase of the building’s construction began under his supervision in 1299 and ended in 1315.

However, it officially became Florence’s seat of government on 26 March 1302, a year after Dante was exiled. Therefore, although Dante saw the first few years of its life, his own work in government was done in the Bargello. Around the same time, Arnolfo was also working on the Duomo, the third set of walls and the Baptistry’s marble exterior.

Under the covered part of Palazzo Vecchio’s exterior walkway, its arches are decorated with a series of nine shields (repeated a bit over twice to cover most of its sides) representing various stages in the city’s government (below). They were originally painted in 1353 to celebrate the city’s triumph over the tyrannical government of Walter VI, Count of Brienne (known as the Duke of Athens), who was chased out in 1343. All together they represent a short of heraldic snapshot of Florence in the middle of the 1300s, with the exception of the later libertas shield. You could even say it was a kind of feudal wall art that paid tribute to previous generations.

These shields are more decoration than any sort of official record. The nine emblems, from top left to bottom right, are:

1. the red cross on a white field. The flag that, though ancient, was taken up later as the emblem of the Popolo as well;

2. the red lily on a white field. In 1251, exiled Ghibellines bearing the white lily on their standard laid siege to the city. Seeing the white lily, the besieged Guelphs rapidly reversed their own colors, putting a red lily on a white field and thus distinguishing themselves from their enemy. Those of the red lily won the day and handed down their symbol to the present. It is around this time that the Capitano del Popolo adopted the marzocco as their device;

3. the shield divided vertically into white and red represents the alliance of Florence and Fiesole, which took place in 1010. This flag was also flown over the carroccio;

4. the two white keys crossed on a red field were used to denote Florence’s Guelph alliance with the Papacy;

5. a late addition, the shield with a blue field and libertas (liberty) in gold, represents the Republic itself, that is, the Priori di Libertà who adopted it in 1458;

6. the eagle with a dragon at its feet is the device of Pope Clement IV. He permitted its use to the Guelph Florentines when the city offered to serve Charles of Anjou in the successful war against Manfred in 1265-66;

7. the white lily on a red field. An ancient symbol of uncertain origin that represented Florence until 1251 when certain Ghibellines took up arms with enemy cities, hoping ultimately to obtain sole control of the city. When their army arrived, the rebels naturally bore the white lily, thinking of themselves as the legitimate Florentine party (see no. 2 above);

8. the arms of Charles of Anjou, to whom the Florentines ceded their municipal government from 1267 to 1278, partially as a gesture of thanks for helping Florence rid itself of the Ghibellines;

9. the bipartite shield at the end is devoted to Charles’ nephew Robert of Anjou who was Florence’s ruler for five years starting in 1313. The Angevin lilies on the right are correct, but alternating bars of gold and black are the result of a bad restoration job in the 1700s. The alternating colors should be white and red.

The architecture of Palazzo Vecchio and its distinctive tower have been imitated numerous times elsewhere, including the City Hall of Worcester, MA (USA), the City Tower in Fürth, Bavaria (Germany), the Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower of Baltimore, MD (USA), the Palazzo Comunale of Montepulciano and Castello Montegufoni in Chianti, Tuscany.