Florence in Tucany saw the culmination of the Middle Ages in the creation by Dante (1265- 1321) of the Comedia Divina. The fact, however, that Dante wrote in Italian, not Latin, indicated the dawn of a new age. Boccaccio and Petrarca of the next generation completed the establishment of the Tuscan dialect as the Italian language. The architecture of Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446), especially his cupola for the catherdral (right), breathed a whole new feeling into art. In the same years, the Medici family brought intenational banking to new achievments.
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, the home of the Medici family in Florence. Click picture to go to a site about the de Medici family.
Renaissance Florence was a republic, but for some sixty years in the 15th century the republic was led, not to say dominated, by the de Medici family. The foundation of their power was the enormously successful bank created by Giovanni di Bicci de Medici (1360-1429). With branches in Rome, Naples, Pisa, Venice, Milan, Basel, Avignone, Geneva, Lyons, Bruges, and London, it made Giovanni probably the richest man in Europe. His son, Cosimo the Elder (1389-1464), consolidated his political power but preserved all the forms of the republic and did not, himself, actually hold office. He lived simply, gave charitably, and cultivated the arts and letters. His grandson Lorenzo continued Cosimo's patronage of the arts and sciences. Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Alberti, Fra Angelico, Ucello, Ficino, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Boticelli, Michelangelo, and Leonardo are but some among the artists and scholars working in Florence during those years and benefitting directly or indirectly from the bank's success.
Lorenzo had neglected the bank, which failed two years after his death when his son, Piero, was chased out of Florence after signing a humiliating peace with the French. Though the Medici were subsequently forced back on Florence, their role, however, was quite different. Instead of being first citizens because of their private wealth and influence, their wealth now depended on their political position which became (in 1569) that of Grand Duke. Some of them, such as Cosimo I (1519-1574) and Ferdinand II (1549-1609), though absolutistic, promoted art, letters, science, and the Tuscan economy. The line continued down to 1737 when it died out for lack of a male heir. Florence then passed under Austrian control.
Santa Maria del Fiore, the cathedrale of Florence, with the cupola of Bruelleschi and the campanile of Giotto. Click to link to a site about Florence.
Universally recognized as a center of art, Florence is also a city of science. Lorenzo moved its university to Pisa to promote that town and get the unruly youth away from the center of government. But in postwar Italy, a new university has been established, and the location has attracted some distinguished scholars. We will study with three of them. Besides the famous art museums there are a number of museums of science and history.
The main hall of the Uffizzi museum. The Uffizzi (meaning Offices) were built by Cosimo I as his office building. Click picture for a link to the museum.
Guiseppe Alessi, chef of the Pentola dell'Oro, a gastronomic society, has made a life-long study of the evolution of Florentine cooking from the Etruscans through the Renaissance and on down to the present. On our last night in Florence, he is our guest instructor. The students in the class of 2004 do not seem to have found the lesson hard to swallow.
Women: Front row, Kathryn Deegan, Paulette Giambalvo, Erin Branigan, Mary McMenamin. Back row, Nannette Langford, Lisa Perrygo, Devan Langford, Jacqueline LaFleur, Kelly Moore, Dawn Hill, Ophira Vishkin.
Men: Michael Siegel, Brian Real, Nathan Zahm, Jonathan Linden, Perry Curac-Dahl , DeForest McDuff, David Krieger, Dan Volk, Seth Sanders, Edward Nowottnick, Brent Edwards, Clopper Almon
