Palazzo Vecchio - Bianca Minuto

Trip Back in Time - Bianca Minuto     

Getting to actually enter and explore the Palazzo Vecchio was an amazing experience. It was with much pleasure that we were able to imagine what it may have been like to inhabit this incredible residence. With the ornate decoration and gilding, this building of republican tradition was transformed into a lavish house of one of Florence’s most famous and notable families. I was impressed by the high level of attention given to minor details. I was amazed by the highly embellished ceilings covered with precious materials and painted to create a heavenly and rich space. The light that entered through the immense windows bounced around the walls and the ceilings to illuminate the spaces. It was a breathtaking view now I can only imagine how incredible the scene must have been in a time when the palace was fully furnished with the contemporary riches and traditional elements of a wealthy home at this time.

Our interaction with Eleonora of Toledo was one that could not be forgotten. Her condescending attitude toward our dress, status, education, and gender was truly shocking. The actor playing her role was able to really portray the level of which women were regarded in the time contemporary to her own life. Despite her immense wealth and the high level of respect she received for a woman of her time, Eleonora was still constant to the idea that held woman as inferior to their male counterparts. Her interesting explanation of the treatment of our bodies, to be one of embarrassment and purity verified the idea that a prominent focus of this time was on the body in the afterlife. Because death was such a normal part of life during Eleonora's time, the main purpose of life was to prepare the body for it's much more important life and ensure its eternal resting place.

I was also extremely impressed by the room which held numerous maps of the world. The concept that these precise measurements, with such accuracy, could have been conceived in a time without the technology that exists today is baffling. Despite the confusion of the relativity of some parts of the world, the detailed land maps give great credit to those who were able to create these deeply important tools in discovering the world as it really is.

Needless to say, the Salone de Cinquecento was breathtaking. Being the room of greatest space for its time, it was still meticulously decorated and adorned with incredible patterns of gold and embellishments. Beautiful paintings, which line both the ceiling and the walls, give a sense of immense importance to this room. The light, which shines in through arches within the space light the room and allow the sunlight to bounce from surface to surface, illuminating the huge room. The advanced skills that were used to create and maintain this project credits the Florentines with incredible abilities, beyond their time, but inspiring in centuries to come.