Bucket List

I have visited Florence on several occasions but every time I was unable to gain access to The Medici Chapel because it was always closed!

​Many places in Italy are closed on a Monday and obviously there might be religious holidays or services when the average tourist is barred.  So, for this trip I was determined to see the subject of what formed a great part of my university degree – with a focus on High Renaissance art and architecture. Therefore, I booked tickets for the Chapel and we turned up bright and breezy at 10am on 4th June… and were blown away!  It is a fabulous building housing amazing sculpture.  If you visit the city you must add it to the ‘to do’ list!

Here's the background:

The Museum of the Cappelle Medicee consists of the funeral chapels of the Medici family at the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence.

The Sagrestia Nuova was commissioned by two Medici Popes, Leo X and Clement VII (formerly Cardinal Giulio de' Medici), and the architecture and sculpture was created by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1519-1534).  The Chapel was commissioned to house the tombs of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano, and those of their heirs Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino and Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, whose death put an end to the Magnificent’s family branch. The funeral monuments were executed by Michelangelo from 1520 to 1534, and completed by Michelangelo's pupils after his departure.  The sculptures include the ideal portraits of the dukes as well as allegorical sculptures…

Lesser known views of the Medici Chapel! The back end.
​Actually it is easy to dismiss the building whilst walking past as the exterior belies the fantastic interior.

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“The two monumental groups (for the tombs of Lorenzo, duke di Urbino, and Giuliano, duke de Nemours) are each composed of a seated armed figure in a niche with an allegorical figure reclining on either side of the sarcophagus below. The seated figures, representing the two dukes, are not treated as portraits but as types. Lorenzo, whose face is shaded by a helmet, personifies the reflective man; Giuliano, holding the baton of an army commander, portrays the active man. At his feet, recline the figures of "Night" and "Day." "Night," a giantess, is twisting in uneasy slumber; "Day," a Herculean figure, looks wrathfully over his shoulder. Just as imposing but far less violent are the two companion figures reclining between sleep and waking on the sarcophagus of Lorenzo. The male figure is known as "Dusk," and the female figure as "Dawn."
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There is also marble group at the entrance consisting of a "Madonna and Child" and the Medici patron saints Cosmas and Damian. The "Madonna" is a work entirely by Michelangelo's own hand; the saints are the work of pupils after models by the master.