The Great Hall. Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I de' Medici - Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

What you will find

EVENT NAME: Exhibition "The Great Hall. Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I de' Medici"

EVENT PLACE: Palazzo Vecchio

EVENT DATE: from 17 December 2024 to 9 March 2025

EVENT DESCRIPTION:

On the occasion of the 450 years since the death of Cosimo I de' Medici and Giorgio Vasari, the exhibition in Palazzo Vecchio - promoted by the Florence World Heritage and Relations with UNESCO Office of the Municipality of Florence and by the MUS.E Foundation, with the support financial institution of the Ministry of Tourism “UNESCO Sites and Creative Cities Fund” - offers the opportunity to deepen the knowledge of the magnificent decoration of the Great Hall of Palazzo Vecchio, one of the highest results of the relationship between Duke Cosimo, client of the undertaking, and Giorgio Vasari, its main architect. The room - built at the end of the fifteenth century and today better known as the Salone dei Cinquecento - in fact underwent a significant renovation in the sixties of the sixteenth century, when the duke promoted its decoration in view of the celebrations for the wedding of Prince Francesco, his eldest son, with Joan of Habsburg, scheduled for December 1565.

The contracts were signed in April 1563 and saw the contribution of artists, artisans and labourers: the walls were raised by around 7 metres, the coffered ceiling was prepared thanks to a solid wooden system and adorned with a rich series of paintings , aimed at composing a symbolic historical-geographical map of Tuscany centered on the figure of Cosimo. In fact, episodes from the history of Florence and its victories against Pisa and Siena stand out on the ceiling, alongside allegories of the city neighborhoods and Tuscan cities.

The decorative project, or rather the invention, was developed by Giorgio Vasari with the contribution of the cultured Vincenzo Borghini and underwent significant variations during the work, imprinted so to speak in the three drawings elaborated in successive phases by the artist: drawings exhibited in exhibition - like the letters cited above - thanks to loans from the State Archives of Florence and the Uffizi Galleries.

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