Courtyard by Michelozzo

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First courtyard by Michelozzo
Palazzo Vecchio
Piazza della Signoria
Florence, December 2023

“The first courtyard was designed in 1453 by Michelozzo. In the lunettes, high around the courtyard, are crests of the church and city guilds. In the center, the porphyry fountain is by Battista del Tadda. The ‘Putto with Dolphin’ on top of the basin is a copy of the original by Andrea del Verrocchio (1476), now on display on the second floor of the palace. This small statue was originally placed in the garden of the Villa Medici at Careggi. The water, flowing through the nose of the dolphin, is brought here by pipes from the Boboli Gardens. In the niche, in front of the fountain, stands Samson and Philistine by Pierino da Vinci. The frescoes on the walls are vedute of the cities of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy, painted in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari for the wedding celebration of Francesco I de' Medici, the eldest son of Cosimo I de' Medici, to Archduchess Johanna of Austria, sister of the Emperor Maximilian II. Amongst the cities depicted are Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, Vienna, Bratislava (Pozsony), Prague, Hall in Tirol, Freiburg im Breisgau and Konstanz. Some were damaged over the course of time. The harmoniously proportioned columns, at one time smooth, and untouched, were at the same time richly decorated with gilt stuccoes. The barrel vaults are furnished with grotesque decorations.” (Palazzo Vecchio, Wikipedia)