Introduction Orsanmichele is a church located on the Via Calzaiuoli in Florence, Italy. It was originally built as a grain market in 1337 and later converted into a church used as the chapel of Florence's powerful craft and trade guilds between 1380 and 1404. The building is an example of Italian Gothic architecture and features a loggia-style facade with 14 architecturally designed external niches, which were filled from 1399 to around 1430 with statues of the guilds' patron saints.
The Museum Orsanmichele (Italy)
Introduction
Orsanmichele is a church located on the Via Calzaiuoli in Florence, Italy. It was originally built as a grain market in 1337 and later converted into a church used as the chapel of Florence's powerful craft and trade guilds between 1380 and 1404. The building is an example of Italian Gothic architecture and features a loggia-style facade with 14 architecturally designed external niches, which were filled from 1399 to around 1430 with statues of the guilds' patron saints.
The Exterior
The three richest guilds opted to make their figures in the far more costly bronze, which cost approximately ten times the amount of the stone figures. The sculptures seen in the exterior niches today are copies, with the originals having been removed to museums, mostly the one on the upper floor of the church. Two works by Donatello are in other Florentine museums: St. George and its niche are in the Bargello, and St. Louis of Toulouse is in the museum of the Basilica di Santa Croce.
The Interior
Inside the church is Andrea Orcagna's bejeweled Gothic Tabernacle (1355–59) encasing a repainting by Bernardo Daddi’s of an older icon of the "Madonna and Child". The tabernacle is considered one of the masterpieces of Italian Gothic art.
The Orsanmichele Museum
The Orsanmichele Museum occupies the upper floor of the church, and can be seen on every Monday, the only day when the museum is open. The museum houses the original sculptures that were once displayed in the exterior niches of the church. It also features a collection of paintings and other artworks related to the history of the building and the guilds that used it as their chapel.
The Guilds
Each trade hoped to outdo the other in commissioning original, groundbreaking sculptures for public display on Florence's most important street, and the artists hired and materials used indicate the importance that was placed on this site. The guilds were charged by the city to commission statues of their patron saints to embellish the facades of the church. The majority of the statues date from 1400 to 1428, with two of the earliest from that period later replaced, in the 16th century.
Conclusion
Orsanmichele's statuary is a relic of the fierce devotion and pride of Florentine trades, and a reminder that great art often arises out of a competitive climate. Today, all of the original sculptures have been removed and replaced with modern duplicates to protect them from the elements and vandalism. The originals mainly reside in the museum of Orsanmichele, which occupies the upper floor of the church, and can be seen on every Monday, the only day when the museum is open.
References:- Seymour, Charles Jr., Sculpture in Italy, 1400–1500, 1966, Penguin (Pelican History of Art)
- Sullivan, Mary Ann (July 10, 2005). "Orsanmichele". Digital Imaging Project: Art historical images of European and North American architecture and sculpture from classical Greek to Post-modern. Retrieved July 14, 2006.
- "Monumental Sculpture from Renaissance Florence". The National Gallery of Art. Archived from the original on July 13, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2006.