Renaissance Florence - Palazzo Davanzati

Renaissance Florence and the whole of Tuscany is a fascinating part of the world - full of history, myth, legends and curious facts. Florence is, of course, chiefly associated with the Medici family. The Medici's banking and cloth trading activities started to really take off under Cosimo Il Vecchio de'Medici (1389-1464). Florence was a centre of trade, a proud city republic full of prospering tradespeople, and thus currency, credit and exchanges were vital to the economy. Cosimo Il Vecchio tapped into this need and the family business grew, despite the Church's objection to taking interests in profit from monetary transactions. The prospering middle classes, and the bankers feeling guilt over their sinful employment, funnelled much money into the arts. Great Renaissance artists like Michelangelo, Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti were patronised by them and could unfold their full creative potential.

The whole city and its palazzi and town houses became filled with objects of the decorative arts. The famous Medici residences Palazzo Medici-Riccardi and Palazzo Pitti are splendid, but my heart really belongs to Palazzo Davanzati. It is a 14th century palazzo in the late medieval / early Renaissance style; not so vast and airy as Medici-Riccardi and therefore really conveying a clear sense of the fortification aspect of palazzi.

It belonged to the wool-trading Davizzi family who sold it on in 1516 to the Bartolini before it passed into the hands of the Davanzati family. It kept changing hands before being first opened in 1910 as a private museum and then in 1951 was bought by the state of Italy. 

 

The first floor is generally the most splendid area of a Renaissance palazzo, called Piano Nobile. In Palazzo Davanzati, the piano nobile houses a great hall, the Room of the Parrots, a Studiolo (study), bathroom and a bedroom.

 

The Room of the Parrots (Sala dei Pappagalli) is so called for its distinctive parrot wall paintings. Painted to look like cloth draperies, this decorative scheme is highly impressive to see and conveys an air of luxury. Real cloth wall-hangings of this size and with an equally elaborate pattern would have been an immense expense, even for a wealthy merchant family. Therefore, painting the walls was more economical.

The lower zone features a geometric pattern with the silhouettes of parrots and above rectangular zones of trees alternatingly before red and blue backgrounds. A grand fireplace provides a suitably representative display of coats of arms and - when in use - of large stacks of expensive firewood. The room is currently set up with a dining table and with cabinets containing displays of crockery, cutlery and table linen.

 

The great hall, also on this floor, was used for entertaining and conducting business. It was the most public room of the house, the arrival area on the ground floor aside. it runs along the entire width of the house and is made airy by big windows with expensive glass panes and a high ceiling. The great hall is now decorated with a curated selection of Renaissance artworks and household objects - among these paintings and ceramics. This hall would have been used for dinners and dances, lit up with wax candles and making the guests in their finery glitter in the warm light. 

 

The Sala dei Pavoni is also located on the Piano Nobile floor. It is decorated with a wall painting, again in the style of cloth draperies.

The lower zone has geometrical ornamentation. Above, a number of coats of arms sit under Gothic arch niches. These are the coats of arms of families allied to the Davizzi. The furniture is antique but from a later period than the 14th century. 

Four-poster beds were common in the 14th century as the drapes kept out drafts and allowed the people to sleep in as cosy warmth as an incredibly roomy palazzo with some fireplaces dispersed across the house can offer. If necessary, bottles with warm water were stuffed under the blankets, like today.

Bedrooms were often shared due to space constraints and to keep the inhabitants warm. The children of a family would share bedrooms, at least in childhood, and the servants were also housed together. Indeed, a servant would often sleep on low bed with mattress in the mistress's bedroom, next to the grand four poster bed. She would be there to help the mistress of the house should she require anything at night. This was especially important as the women of these great families were pregnant frequently to produce heirs to the name. These chamber servants were often trusted and valued members of staff and received good treatment, garments and presents by the family. Nonetheless, it meant that the servant had no privacy and was on duty essentially 24/7 without a break or possibility to retreat and recharge - a truly exhausting existence.

Besides the bathrooms featuring an abort loo (a wooden seat with a lidded hole), there are ensuite bathrooms to the main bedrooms. The walls are painted in a geometric pattern of white shields on black, another bathroom depicts a pattern of flowers. These feature metal tubs to wash in using pitchers of water and chamber pots as well. These rooms are quite claustrophobic for modern tastes but they had the necessities. Servants would bring warm water to rinse and a variety of soaps and lotions was available for Renaissance personal hygiene. Medical and cosmetic essays from this time recommend genuinely useful herbal remedies for, e.g. skin conditions, right next to bizarre or even toxic substances, such as lead or creams made from animal excrements.