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 4_Via de' Gori
_ _ _ First Itinerary
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Leaving the Government Buildings behind us, we enter into the
Neighborhood of Via de' Gori, whose length is determined on the right
by the side of Palazzo Medici and on the left by the Convent of San
Giovannino. The street gets its name from the Gori family, who came
from Careggi. They bought several houses close to Piazza Madonna and
others on Via Larga. The latter were left in Lando Gori's last will and
testament, written in 1351, to the Oratory dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist
so they could be incorporated into the building. This complex was
transformed, between 1579 and 1661 into the church that now stands on
the site. It is called San Giovannino to distinguish it from the
Baptistery that is close by. The importance this building had can be
understood by the fact that on June 24th the day the city honored their
patron saint, John the Baptist, the Guild Representatives offered
candles to him during a solemn ceremony in the Baptistery and
immediately thereafter they went to make an offering at San Giovannino.
Piazza San Lorenzo is just a few steps away, here you can see the
Basilica and the stalls were artisans sell local leather goods. Let's
stop just to look at the equestrian statue of a condottiero, which
means a mercenary, located just in front of the church. It depicts
Giovanni de' Medici, called Giovanni delle Bande Nere, he was the only
member of the family who distinguished himself in the use of arms. An
intrepid and courageous figure, Giovanni was born (with the name
Ludovico) in Forli in 1498. His parents were Giovanni de' Medici
and Caterina Sforza. Shortly thereafter she was left a widow and
rebaptised the baby with the name of his father Giovanni. A descendant
of the minor branch of the family, that of Lorenzo the elder, he wasn't
always on good terms with his cousins. Nonetheless, Lorenzo the
Magnificent's son, who was also named Giovanni, wanted him in the Papal
army as soon as he became Pope under the name of Leo X. The young
Medici quickly demonstrated his value as a mercenary, which he surely
inherited from growing up with his belligerent mother. He became the
Captain of a light infantry band that was famous in all of Italy. When
Leo X died, as a sign of mourning his corps covered their standard and
uniforms, called bande, with black. From then on he was always called
Giovanni 'delle Bande Nere'. He died very young. The cause was
gangrene, after being hit by a falconing bullet that destroyed his knee
during the war of the Italian League against Charles V. In a famous
letter Pietro Aretino describes the courage of this great warrior as he
held up the lantern for the surgeon who amputated his leg. Aretino says
that he didn't even shiver as they sawed it off but all attempts to
save his life were in vain and Giovanni delle Bande Nere
died shortly there after of septicaemia. He was 28 year old. He left a
grieving widow Maria Salviati and a son who was now an orphan named
Cosimo. It is here that Giovanni's story continues to surprise us. It
so happens that Maria Salviati was no less than a direct descendant of
Lorenzo the Magnificent. Therefore the blood from more important line
of Medicis had been grafted on to the lesser line with little Cosimo as
the result. So when Duke Alessandro unexpectedly died, the Florentine
nobility turned to Cosimo to maintain Medici rule. At this time Cosimo
was 18 years old. He had grown up with his mother Maria in the Villa di
Castello, far away from the intrigues and business of the court.
However, in a short time he was able to take control of the government
and keep it. He managed to establish himself so well that his sons and
descendants remained the rulers of Tuscany until 1737. Cosimo also
transformed the area into a Grand Dukedom, that is a kingdom that is
recognized by all of the sovereigns of Europe. The statue that we find
in front of us was ordered by Cosimo himself as a way of honoring his
father. It should have been placed inside San Lorenzo but as the work
on the statue, which had been commissioned from the court sculptor
Baccio Bandinelli, dragged out the base was placed in the piazza
outside the church. When the statue was finally placed on top of it the
result was so disappointing that the Florentines called it the The wet
nurse of San Lorenzo and it was never moved inside. In effect the
figure, certainly not among Bandinelli's best, has an excessively large
chest and all together the result is rather heavy even though the
thoughtful seated position recalls Michelangelo's work on the Medici
Tombs. Two other statues of Giovanni delle Bande Nere, both of which
are by Bandinelli, can be seen today in the Salone dei Cinquecento in Palazzo Vecchio. In 1885 another was placed under the portico of the Uffizi (sculpted by Temistocle Guerazzi). |
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The Medici entrance
