The Palazzo Vecchio Grotesques

A Guide Book

Valentina Zucchi author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Officina Libraria

Published:20th Jun '24

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

The Palazzo Vecchio Grotesques cover

Palazzo Vecchio, which towers over piazza della Signoria, at the centre of Florence, is an iconic building and from the Middle Ages to the Medici family to present day it has been the seat of civic power.

Among its most admired features are the marvellous grotesque decorations which animate the walls and vaults of the courtyard and several rooms. Grotesques are a type of wall decoration, in stucco or fresco, often with the addition of gold, that developed in the Renaissance when the vaults of the Domus Aurea in Rome, which were underground (considered grottos hence the name), were rediscovered by artists who drew inspiration from those designs.

Palazzo Vecchio’s grotesques are lively, extravagant ornaments, generated by the creativity of artists - among whom Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio (1483-1561) and Marco Marchetti da Faenza (ca. 1526-1588) stand out - and they include, birds, flowers, vegetation and many strange creatures that have a mixture of human and animal traits.

ISBN: 9788833672144

Dimensions: 250mm x 200mm x 8mm

Weight: 433g

96 pages