Palazzo Vecchio: Medici Time Travel

On Wednesday, our class made a trip to Palazzo Vecchio, where we saw the house of the Medici Family; Eleonora and Cosimo's house to be exact. It was very interesting to learn about this couple and their love for each other and then being able to be in the place they once lived. I was very impressed with how lavish it all was. The ceilings were carved from wood and decorated in gold, and there were murals throughout all the rooms on the walls and on the ceilings. It was breathtaking. I did however find it very hard to take it all in because there was so much detail in every room tthat I became overwhelmed by it all.

I really enjoyed Eleonora's private chapel. It was beautifully painted. I thought it was very sweet that she had her own private chapel and that she could go there whenever she wanted/needed because it was in the comfort of her own home. I also liked the room that had her name painted high on the walls because it had little children painted all around each letter to symbolize fertility and to help her become pregnant easily. Which may have helped because she was pregnant for roughly eleven years with many children. It is sad to me how a person considers themselves lucky to have a few of your many children reach adulthood.

It was so cool to see the Medici map room. I was especially impressed to see that the maps were so accurate because they were created in the fifteenth century. Ideally I would now like to have a map room when I acquire a house, just because this one had such a sophisticated feel to it. It was so awesome to see the secret room and be able to go into it. I was shocked at how big it was. I believe it was the servent quarters, but I only expected to see a tiny room.

Eleonora was very interesting. I liked being able to see all the components that it took to make up her outfit. I however did not really like her personality because I found her to be very condescending towards our class when she found out that we were not married. And yet, in her time she was considered old when she got married at 17, instead of roughly 13. I did not like the aura she gave, but I did enjoy going back in time.

Ciao.