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Siege of Florence in the Sixteenth Century

The siege of Florence led to massive destruction of the buildings closest to the walls and of the nearby villas and houses. Following this destruction-wreaked by the Florentines themselves to clear the field and caused by the siege-many of the areas buildings were markedly reconfigured the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The complicated political events during the early decades of the sixteenth century had the effect of decreasing construction on the whole. However, one must point out the work done by Baccio d'Agnolo who created many residential buildings, in a simplified style with a plastered facade and often with a loggia below the roof. Part of his success was due to the working system he organized and it would be important to shed light on this as regards the history of the relationships between the powers and the authorities involved in the construction of the buildings and the city. Among the several buildings attributed to him in Via Ginori, Palazzo Taddei (1503-04 ca.) can be considered a prototype of residential housing for the most affluent classes during the first half of the sixteenth century.

In the Palazzo Bartolini-Salimbeni (1517-20) that takes full advantage of its lovely position on Piazza Santa Trinita through a combination of rigor and imagination, one can clearly see that Baccio d'Agnolo was acquainted with Bramante's and Raphael's Roman projects. Baccio d'Agnolo also designed the belltower of Santo Spirito (1503-17) that was finished later, in 1566 to be exact, by order of Cosimo I.

Destruction was not the only effect of the terrible siege of 1529-30. The drop in population and overall political instability were not factors that favored intense building and construction.

The Fortress of San Giovanni, later known as the Fortezza da Basso to distinguish it from the San Giorgio or Belvedere fortress, was ordered by Alessandro (1534) in order to defend the city and to allow him to control any internal revolt that could be organized by the Medici's enemies and in that case, to provide a safe refuge for the ruling family and its supporters.

Reasons of law and order also seem to have been behind Alessandro de' Medici's orders to eliminate the projections or overhangs from the Medieval houses. An order to this effect was issued in 1533 for Via Larga.

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