With the Medici Family Tour in Florence we will learn about a real Medici family saga. A day to discover the story of this incredible dynasty. The House of the Medici is one of the most famous families of Florence and played a key role in Italian and European history between the 15th and the 18th centuries. The Medici first ruled Florence and then Tuscany. They gave birth to two popes and two queens of France. The House of the Medici is still extremely important because of its encouragement and aid to art, culture and science throughout the centuries. With this tour we will visit their church (San Lorenzo), their tombs (Medici Chapels) and their first home (Medici Riccardi Palace).
The Medici Family Tour in Florence includes the tour of Medici Chapels. They house the New Sacristy designed by Michelangelo and the tombs of the Grand Dukes. The beautiful inlays in Florentine mosaic provide a dazzling splendor to the chapels. It actually reaches its highest expression here, thanks to the use of porphyries, granites, mother-of-pearls, lapis lazuli and corals. Furthermore, this tour includes the Museum of Palazzo Medici Riccardi. It was designed by architect Michelozzo and it was the Medici’s first residence. Michelangelo also lived here for a while. The Magi Chapel by Benozzo Gozzoli perfectly portrays the members of the Medici House. It is one of the most significant examples of Renaissance art.
We will also visit San Lorenzo Church. It was the Medici family church and was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. This is the burial place of the Medici ancestors, Giovanni di Bicci and Piccarda Boeri, but also of Piero, father of Lorenzo the Magnificent. They all rest inside the Old Sacristy, a magnificent example of collaboration between two greatest Renaissance masters, Donatello and Brunelleschi. In front of the high altar we see the tomb of Cosimo the Elder, also know as “Cosimo pater patriae” (“Father of the nation”). The church also houses the pulpits by Donatello, the tabernacle by Desiderio da Settignano, and much more.
The Convent of San Marco was built under the patronage of Cosimo the Elder to promote the arts and earn a place in Heaven. Friar Beato Angelico painted the cells of the friars with frescoes. Nonetheless, the convent is related to the controversial figure of Friar Girolamo Savonarola. He founded a republican state in the late 15th century, openly fighting the Medici, and was condemned to the stake by Pope Alessandro VI Borgia. It’s a must of our Medici Family Tour in Florence!
Palazzo Vecchio was originally the Public Palace of Florence. However, it was converted into the Medici house by Cosimo I in 1537. In its great rooms we will see how the power of the Grand Duke was extolled thanks to a mythological program. His virtues, his force and his magnificence were depicted by artists like Giorgio Vasari, who mainly spent his life glorifying his patron Cosimo I. Cosimo I de’ Medici was also the creator of the Jewish ghetto of Florence, erected by him in 1571.
