Page 309 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

FL ORENCE  307

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Practical Information
Piazza de’ Pitti.
Map 3 C2 (5 B5).
Tel 055 29 48 83 (info & booking).
Galleria Palatina & Royal
Apartments: Open 8:15am–
6:50pm Tue–Sun.
The Palmieri Rotonda by Giovanni Fattori (1825–1908)
Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec.
& ^ 7
in Neo-Classical style by the Boboli Gardens: Open 8:15am–
Appartamenti Reali
Dukes of Lorraine when they 6:30pm daily (Mar: to 5:30pm;
The Royal Apartments on the succeeded the Medici dynasty Jun–Aug: to 7:30pm; Nov–Feb:
first floor of the south wing of as the rulers of Florence. to 4:30pm).
the Palazzo were built in the The apartments are lavishly Closed 1st & last Mon. & 7
17th century. They are decorated appointed with ornate gold and Other collections:
with frescoes by various Florentine white stuccoed ceilings and rich Open & Closed same as Boboli
artists, a series of portraits of the decoration, notably the walls of Gardens. & 7
Medici by the Flemish painter the Parrot Room, which are Transport
Justus Sustermans, who worked covered with an opulent crimson @ D.
at the court between 1619 and fabric detailed with a bird design.
1681, and a group of 18th-century The Tapestry Rooms are hung
Gobelins tapestries. In the late with 17th- and 18th-century
18th and early 19th centuries, tapestries of French, Belgian
the apartments were revamped and Italian manufacture. The
apartments reflect the tastes of
three distinct historical periods.
Other Collections
The Museo degli Argenti
(Silverware Museum) is housed
in rooms formerly used by the
Medici as summer apartments.
The family’s lavish taste is
reflected in the vast array of A copy of Giambologna’s Oceanus
precious objects on display. Fountain (1576)
These embrace beautiful
examples of Roman glassware, The Boboli Gardens
ivory, carpets, crystal, amber, The Boboli Gardens, a lovely
The Throne Room of the and fine works by Florentine place to escape the rigours of
Appartamenti Reali and German goldsmiths. sightseeing, were laid out for
Pride of place goes to 16 the Medici after they bought
pietre dure vases (decorated the Palazzo Pitti in 1549. An
Galleria del Costume
with hard or semi-precious excellent example of stylized
inlaid stones), once owned by Renaissance gardening, they
Lorenzo the Magnificent. were opened to the public
The Galleria del Costume, in 1766. The more formal parts
which opened in 1983, reflects of the garden, nearest the
the changing taste in the Palazzo, consist of box hedges
courtly fashion of the late clipped into symmetrical
18th century up to the 1920s. geometric patterns. These lead
The highlights of the to wilder groves of ilex and
Galleria d’Arte Moderna cypress trees, planted to create
a contrast between artifice
(Modern Art Gallery) and nature. Countless statues
are the wonderful adorn the gardens, particularly
paintings of the along the Viottolone, an
Macchiaioli (spot- avenue of cypress trees
makers), who planted in 1637. High above
were a group of the gardens stands the Forte
Tuscan artists with di Belvedere, designed by
a style very similar to Buontalenti in 1590 for the
Piazza della Signoria depicted that of the French Medici Grand Dukes.
in precious stones Impressionists.

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