Activity

During the period of Florence as capital Palazzo Vecchio became for obvious reasons the center of power of the new Italian State. Inside, due to the size of the various rooms, the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were placed. But at that point the problem arose of the municipal offices, where to place all the aforementioned rooms with the staff? As often happens in our times, even at the time the Municipality owned various properties in the city, a medieval building was chosen for its size and proximity to the city’s center of power: Palazzo Spini Feroni.

The sculptor’s mature work invites the viewer to walk around the statue in order to appreciate all the details, a new concept compared to the classic way of seeing the statue from the front. After the expulsion of the Medici family in 1494, the Florentine government decided to place this work in front of Palazzo Vecchio, but why all this? It was the image of a power that in a certain way tended to limit the true republican independence of Florence, therefore Giuditta represents the Florentine Republic which cuts off the head of Holofernes who embodies tyranny, a true model or “manifesto” which speaks of the political reality of the city.

Piazza della Signoria was the subject of various excavation campaigns. In the square between Palazzo Uguccioni and the door of the customs of Palazzo Vecchio, several medieval buildings were found, including a large foundation of a home home with well. Perhaps we do not realize that in Piazza Signoria it was dotted with several-twitting houses belonging to various Ghibelline families including the largest one belonging to the Uberti family.