Boboli Gardens and the Pitti Palace

Behind the Pitti Palace stretch the Boboli Gardens, begun for Duke Cosimo I. Their shaded paths and carefully framed views offer some of the finest perspectives of Florence. Near the entrance, a grotto preserves four unfinished statues by Michelangelo, possibly linked to the early project for San Lorenzo’s façade.

Casa Guidi and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Almost opposite the palace stands Casa Guidi, home of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Elizabeth died here in June 1861—she who “made of her verse a golden ring linking England to Italy.” From these “Casa Guidi windows” she followed the liberation and unification of Italy.

“I heard last night a little child go singing
’Neath Casa Guidi windows, by the church,
O bella libertà, O bella!”

The church in question is San Felice, which preserves a strong painting of St. Anthony, St. Roch, and St. Catherine, influenced by Botticelli and Filippino Lippi, along with a Crucifixion from the school of Giotto.

Piazza Santo Spirito and Palazzo Guadagni

Via Mazzetta leads to the bustling Piazza Santo Spirito. On the corner stands the late Quattrocento Palazzo Guadagni, recognizable by its wrought-iron lantern holders and elegant exterior details.

Santo Spirito: Brunelleschi’s Masterpiece

The current church of Santo Spirito—one of the purest expressions of Early Renaissance architecture—was built between 1471 and 1487 following Brunelleschi’s designs. It replaced an earlier structure destroyed in a fire during the visit of Galeazzo Maria Sforza.

Highlights

• Interior design: A refined reinterpretation of the basilica plan, with graceful Corinthian columns.
• Sacristy: Octagonal, by Giuliano da Sangallo and Cronaca (1497).
• Campanile: By Baccio d’Agnolo.
• Stained-glass: Designed by Perugino.
• Artworks: Filippino Lippi’s Madonna and Child with Saints, the tombs of the Capponi family, and several works from schools of the Quattrocento.

Humanist Florence Before the Quattrocento

In the late fourteenth century, the Augustinian convent of Santo Spirito was a gathering place for scholars who bridged the Trecento writers and early humanists. Among them:

• Coluccio Salutati, Chancellor of the Republic and founder of the first Greek chair.
• Filippo Villani, Dante lecturer and nephew of the chroniclers Giovanni and Matteo Villani.
• Fra Luigi Marsili, devoted commentator on Petrarch.

A century later, the convent opposed Savonarola, and Landucci records hearing the bull of excommunication read here.

Santa Maria del Carmine and the Brancacci Chapel

A short walk away stands Santa Maria del Carmine, consecrated in 1422. Almost immediately after, the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel began—works that would become the foundation of later painting. Although an 18th-century fire destroyed much of the church, the chapel survived.

The Brancacci Chapel: The Birthplace of Modern Painting

Masolino and Masaccio

Begun by Masolino around 1422 and continued by his pupil Masaccio, this cycle marks the true beginning of Renaissance naturalism.

Masolino’s works

• St. Peter Preaching
• Healing of the Cripple and Raising of Tabitha
• The Fall of Adam and Eve

Masaccio’s works

• Expulsion from Paradise
• The Tribute Money
• Healing the Sick with Shadows
• Baptism of the Neophytes
• Portraits of himself and contemporaries

Masaccio’s grasp of form, volume, and emotional reality was revolutionary. Leonardo da Vinci wrote:

“He showed by his perfect works how those who take for their standard any one but Nature weary themselves in vain.”

His landscapes are atmospheric, his figures monumental, and his use of the nude innovative—for example, the shivering youth in the Baptism. Masaccio died in Rome in 1428 at only twenty-seven.

Filippino Lippi

In 1484, more than fifty years later, Filippino Lippi completed the unfinished frescoes:

• Raising of the Youth
• St. Paul Visiting St. Peter in Prison
• Liberation of St. Peter
• St. Peter and St. Paul before the Proconsul
• Crucifixion of St. Peter

He also introduced portraits of Botticelli, Pollaiuolo, Pulci, and himself.

The Carmine Beyond the Brancacci

Outside the chapel, the church preserves:

• The restored tomb of Piero Soderini
• Frescoes on the life of St. Cecilia by a follower of Giotto
• A Madonna in the cloister attributed to Giovanni da Milano

Borgo San Frediano: Florence’s Working-Class Quarter

West of the Carmine lies Borgo San Frediano, historically the poorest district of Florence. The Carmine’s bell signaled the beginning of the Ciompi uprising in 1378.

The Carmelites often supported Savonarola; in 1497, one preached near Porta San Frediano proclaiming divine confirmation of his sanctity. The parish church, San Frediano in Cestello, is today unremarkable.

Walls and Gates of the Oltrarno

Built from 1324 to 1327 during Florence’s conflicts with Castruccio Interminelli, the Oltrarno walls remain partly intact. Five gates survive:

• Porta San Niccolò
• Porta San Miniato
• Porta San Giorgio
• Porta Romana
• Porta San Frediano

During the siege of 1529–1530, the imperial army surrounded the entire area.

Porta San Niccolò

The only gate that retains much of its medieval height. Inside it begins Borgo San Niccolò, leading to the church of the same name—one of Florence’s oldest, though altered. The tradition that Michelangelo hid in its tower after Florence’s fall is unconvincing.

Beyond lies the Piano di Ripoli, once the headquarters of the Prince of Orange.

The Climb to San Miniato and Piazzale Michelangelo

A long staircase leads up the hill to San Miniato al Monte, passing the panoramic Piazzale Michelangelo, famed for one of the most celebrated views of Florence. The Viale dei Colli, built in the 19th century, approaches the piazzale from Porta Romana in a gentle, winding ascent.

Dante (Purgatorio XII) compares the climb between the first terraces of Purgatory to this very ascent.

San Salvatore al Monte

Above the piazzale rises San Salvatore al Monte, a serene Franciscan church built by Cronaca in the late 15th century, praised as “the purest vessel of Franciscan simplicity.” It preserves works by Giovanni della Robbia.

A small shrine on the path marks the place where St. John Gualbert forgave his brother’s murderer. The crucifix associated with the miracle is now kept in Santa Trinita.