The Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) was built beginning in 1299.

Designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, it was built on the site of the Uberti clan’s Palazzo dei Fanti and
Palazzo dell’Escutore di Giustizia, which were both destroyed when the Uberti were exiled from Florence
at the end of the war between the Guelphs and Ghibellines (supporters of the Pope and Holy Roman Emperor,
respectively). The city wanted a palazzo which would be worthy of the city’s importance, and provide sanctuary
during times of strife for the magistrates (Signoria). They bought up properties of the families living around the
destroyed Uberti palazzos and created the Piazza della Signoria and the Palazzo Vecchio on this land, to
ensure that the Uberti clan could never return to Florence, since their ancestral homes had been erased.

I have split this section into two pages. The first page contains images of the exterior and the cortile
(Michelozzo’s courtyard), as well as images of the interior in the public spaces other than the Medici’s
Apartment of the Elements (the residence of Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici and Eleonora di Toledo).
The second page has images of the Apartment of the Elements, detailing the frescoes and sculptures
in a showcase of the architecture and art created by the most powerful family in Florence, the Medici,
principal patrons of Art and Architecture in the revolutionary period we know as the Renaissance.

Click a display composite below to select a page.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Florence Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Gallery with images of the Palazzo Vecchio:

Art and Sculpture: Palazzo Vecchio

There are a number of images in this section that are not yet on the Photoshelter site.
If an image you want is not yet uploaded, contact Ron Reznick (info at bottom of page).

There are 11 Galleries in the Photoshelter Florence Collection

Exterior and interior architecture of the Palazzo Vecchio in the public spaces other than
the Apartment of the Elements, detailing some of the sculptures and frescoes in the Hall of 500,
Sala dell’Udienza (Audience Hall), Sala dei Gigli (Hall of Lilies), and the frescoes with Grotesques
inside the Cortile (Courtyard) of Michelozzo and the Monumental Staircase to the Medici Apartments.

A detailed look at the Art and Architecture of the Apartment of the Elements, the personal residence of
Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici and Eleonora di Toledo. The first of the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany,
Cosimo I de’ Medici created a magnificent display of Renaissance Art with frescoes and sculpture by some of
the premiere artists of his generation. His patronage created the environment which led to the High Renaissance.

Images in this section are in a number of different Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The Banner below leads to the Florence Collections page where a Gallery can be selected.

Direct Link to the Gallery with images of the Palazzo Vecchio:

Art and Sculpture: Palazzo Vecchio

There are a number of images in this section that are not yet on the Photoshelter site.
If an image you want is not yet uploaded, contact Ron Reznick (info at bottom of page).

There are 11 Galleries in the Photoshelter Florence Collection

— Return to the Master Index on the Florence Select page —

Click the display composite above to return to the Master Index on the Florence Select page