Page 403 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

FL ORENCE  401

the man who subjugated all
Tuscany, while Ammannati’s
Neptune Fountain honors Tuscan
naval victories. Michelangelo’s
original David stood here until
1873, when it was replaced by a
copy. Donatello’s original statue
of the heraldic lion of Florence,
known as the Marzocco, is now
in the Bargello.
Other notable statues include
Cellini’s bronze Perseus, and The
Rape of the Sabine Women by
Giambologna, carved from a
single block of marble.
Painting of Penelope in Eleonora’s rooms in the Palazzo Vecchio
scenes of virtuous women. (Academy for Experimentation),
Highlights of the palace include founded in memory of Galileo
the paintings by Il Bronzino in by Grand Duke Ferdinand II
the Cappella di Eleonora and in 1657.
the loggia, which has wonderful Some of the finest exhibits
views over the city. The Sala dei include early maps, antique
Gigli (Room of Lilies), contains microscopes, astrolabes, and
frescoes of Roman heroes and barometers. Of equal interest
Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes. are the huge 16th- and 17th-
There is also a Children’s century globes illustrating the
Museum, with story-telling motion of the planets and stars.
sessions and tours in various Be sure to see Lopo Homem’s
languages. One tour takes in 16th-century map of the world,
formerly secret stairways, showing the newly charted
The Putto fountain in Vasari’s courtyard, at hidden passages, and attics. coasts of the Americas, and the
the Palazzo Vecchio nautical instruments invented
9 Palazzo Vecchio 0 Museo di Storia by Sir Robert Dudley, an
Elizabethan marine engineer
Piazza della Signoria. Tel 055-276 83 della Scienza employed by the Medicis.
25. @ A, B. Open daily (Thu: am only). Piazza de’ Giudici 1. Tel 055-26 53 11. The second-floor rooms
& 7 Open 9:30am–6pm Mon–Sat (to 1pm display fine old clocks,
Tue). Closed public hols. 8 calculators, a horrifying
Palazzo Vecchio, completed in ∑ museogalileo.it collection of 19th-century
1322, has retained its external surgical instruments, weights
medieval appearance, and its This lively museum devotes and measures, and graphic
imposing bell tower dominates numerous rooms on two floors anatomical models.
the square. The “Old Palace” still to different scientific themes,
fulfils its original role as illustrating each with fine
Florence’s town hall. Much of displays and beautifully
the interior was remodeled for made early scientific
Duke Cosimo I in the mid-16th instruments. It is also
century by Vasari, whose work something of a shrine
includes several frescoes that to the Pisa-born
laud the Duke’s achievements. scientist, Galileo
The palazzo is entered via a Galilei (1564–1642),
courtyard, in which stands and features two
Verrochio’s Putto fountain. A of his telescopes as
staircase leads to the Salone dei well as large-scale
Cinquecento, which is graced reconstructions of
by Michelangelo’s Victory statue his experiments into
(1525), and to the tiny Studiolo motion, weight, velocity,
decorated by 30 of Florence’s and acceleration. These are
leading Mannerist painters. sometimes demonstrated
Eleonora of Toledo, wife of by the attendants. Other
Cosimo I, had a suite of rooms exhibits come from the Armillary sphere, Museo di Storia
Statue of Cosimo I in Piazza della Signoria in the palace, decorated with Accademia del Cimento della Scienza

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