 |
 8_Via Panicale
_ _ _ First Itinerary
|
 |
The name Panicale (the dried panic plant, panicastrella is also the
name for a type of fodder) indicates that we are in an agricultural
area, largely occupied by the monasteries' vegetable gardens outside
the second to last set of city walls, built in 1172, among dried plants
and sheep grazing on hay. Because this street was outside the walls its
first name was not Via but Borgo Panicale. It was also called Borgo de'
Maccheroni for a family with houses close to the Duomo. Coming from Via
Taddea we find ourselves in front of a beautiful tabernacle with a
sixteenth century "Madonna". Looking at number 39 you will see another
Madonna in the style of Bottecelli's workshop. Turning to the right,
towards Via Guelfa we pass a wide offering of small multiethnic shops
and quickly come to the corner where the first thing you see is the
church of San Barnaba, with its thirteenth century door decorated with
the City's, the Capitan of the People's, and the Guelph Party's coat of
arms. The "Madonna" in Della Robbia-ware
that is located in the center of the acute arch was added later to
replace a lost fresco. Giovanni della Robbia, who lived and worked
nearby, made this piece around 1528-1529. The origin of this church is
connected to an interesting important military event. The victory of
the Florentine Guelphs in the Battle of Campaldino, which took place in
1289 on the day of Saint Barnaba (June 11). Construction on the church,
documented from 1322 was financed by the Capitolo di San Lorenzo and
from 1335 on, by the Republic itself under the control of the Herb and
Medicine Guild The church of San Barnaba
The Late Gothic arrangement of the church has undergone many drastic
changes inside. These were caused by the Carmellite nuns who, to site
an example, commissioned Giovanni Vernaccini to cover the antique
wooden trusses with a sunken panel ceiling incised and gilded in pure
gold. The presbytery area received a Late Baroque look designed by
Alessandro and Gaetano Gori who decorated the apse with stuccoes and
marbles. They also constructed a sumptuous main altar. In 1758 the
church was described as "vague and magnificent" by Richa but we must
remember that at that time the apse held the Panel of San Barnaba by
Botticelli that now hangs in the Uffizi. It was painted between 1485
and 1487 and depicts a "Madonna and Child with Five Saints".
Another very venerated painting was on the first altar on the right, a
small frescoed Crucifix that Fra Angelico painted in the convent and
was rediscovered and moved to this location on May 18, 1719, while
restructuring work was going on. These two works no longer hang in the
church but today you can admire various panel paintings and frescoes,
although none of them originally belonged to this church; they are the
result of the 1808-1810 reorganization of the ecclasiastical
possessions. On the left is a "Virgin and Child between Two Saints" by
Pier Francesco di Francesco di Jacopo Foschi (Florence 1502-1567),
which was in Santa Trinita. Then there are original fresco fragments
done by Lorenzo di Bicci (documented in Florence between 1353 and 1427)
and Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni (documented in Florence between
1369 and 1415) and was probably part of the church's original
decoration. Discovered in 1831 and restored for a second time after the
Flood of 1966. The marble tabernacle that is gilded with gold leaf was
made between 1489 and 1494 in the style of Benedetto da Maiano. After
that you can see the choir with the gigantic "Assumption of the Virgin"
on canvas. It was painted by Fabrizio Boschi in 1620 for the Church of
Saint Lucy in via San Gallo which was later suppressed. Until 1998 the
painting " The Mystic Wedding of Saint Catherine" by Giovanni da San
Giovanni was located here. Now it has been moved to the cannon of San Lorenzo
( but it was originally painted for the church of Sant'Agostino sulla
Costa). Going along the right wall a little further we find a
"Deposition of Christ" from the church of Santa Elisabetta delle
Convertite by Bernardino Poccetti, signed and dated 1596. A rare panel
painting by this artist, who was known for his excellent fresco
technique, demonstrates his subtle and quick style. |
|
|
The Medici entrance
