Information AboutOrsanmichele |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ORSANMICHELE | |
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Inside the church is Andrea Orcagna 's bejeweled Gothic Tabernacle (1355-59) encasing a repainting by Daddi 's of an older icon of the 'Madonna and Child' {Link without Title} . The faceades held 14 architecturally designed external niches, which were filled from 1399 to around 1430 with a treaure of masterpieces, including:
The statues were commissioned by: (numbers conforms to above list); 1) Medici e Speziali (doctors and apothecaries); 2) Maestri di Pietra e Legname (wood and stone workers); 3) Giudici e Notai (magistrates ); 4) Linaivoli e Rigattieri (linen-weavers and peddlars); 5) Calzauoli (shoemakers); 6) Tribunale di Mercanzia (merchants); 7) Maneschalchi (farriers); 8) Pellicciai (furriers); 9) Beccai (butchers); ''10) Calimala (wool mechants);'' 11) Corazzai (armourers' ); ''12) Cambio (bankers ); 13) Lana (wool manufacturers);'' 14) Seta (silk merchants). Observe that three richest guilds – italicized above - decided to make their figures in the far more costly bronze, which cost approximately ten times the amount of the stone figures. MODERN ASSESSMENT It can be easy today to overlook the niches at the periphery of the small Orsanmichele. Many pass over it for the airier Uffizi and the dazzling goliaths of the Bargello and Loggia Dei Lanzi . But a brief walk around the church reveals some of the more obscure treasures of competitive Quattrocento statuary and bespeaks the prowess of fifteenth century Florentine art. The Orsanmichele's statuary is a relic of the fierce devotion and pride of Florentine trades, and a reminder that great art often inhabits the crevices of warehouses and silos. It is worth remembering that Quattrocento Florentine art was commissioned and crafted by a population of under 100,000 citizens. Today, all of the original sculptures have been removed and replaced with modern duplicates to protect them from the elements and vandalism {Link without Title} . The originals reside in the Bargello or the museum of Orsanmichele. EXTERNAL LINKS
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