Dr. Rocky Ruggiero

Originally called the “Palace of the Captain of the People,” the Bargello, begun in 1255, is the earliest example of civic architecture in the city of Florence. Home to medieval Florence’s highest magistrate, the fortified style of architecture of the Bargello would define civic and domestic architectural trends in Florence for centuries. One of its most immediate imitators was the Palazzo della Signoria (later called the Palazzo Vecchio), commissioned in 1294, which was the seat of communal power in Florence until 1531. Resembling a castle more than a public building, the Palazzo dell Signoria was clearly an attempt on the part of a Republican government to appropriate feudal architecture for its own purpose. We will then conclude our discussion with the medieval-grain-market-turned-guild church of Orsanmichele. The tall rectangular building came to represent the financial heart to the medieval city by both unifying all the guilds in a single building, but also through the arrangement of the various guild halls around the church.