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The leading Architects of 19th Century Florence

Between Eclectcism and Historicism: Art's Leaders
In the architecture of the period, historicism was confirmed insofar as style was concerned, with some Neogothic or Neo-Egyptian examples (Luigi De Cambrai - Digny), but generally the trend was neoclassical.

Even in Florence we could trace the consequences of that fundamental phenomenon that characterized neoclassicism. It was no longer the taste of just the artists that determined features and orientation, but mainly the theoreticians or at least those artists who maintained a closed link with the theoretic (Del Rosso or Cambrai-Digny).

Pasquale Poccianti (1774-1858), a student of Paoletti's, left Florence works of great clarity, such as the work he did on Palazzo Pitti: the completion of the eighteenth century rondò in 1839, the Doric Tuscan vestibule; the carriage path between the left side of the courtyard and the Boboli Gardens which entailed the demolition of Ammannati's original staircase; the new monumental staircase in 1847 and the beautiful western façade of the Meridiana that Paoletti had begun (fig. 18). However, his best works are in Livorno.

All of Luigi De Cambrai-Digny's (1779-1843) works are interesting. His largest projects were built outside Florence (in Montecatini and Livorno. The royal loggia on Il Prato (1827), is built entirely of stone as opposed to other neoclassical structures; the spans were walled over later. The reference to the Hellenistic temple (pronaos on a high base) is elegantly shaped, and even follows the example of the Louvre in Paris. The internal vestibule is in the Egyptian style.

Giuseppe Martelli (1792-1876) was very active in Florence during the second half of the nineteenth century. His works include the house of Tommaso dell'Imperatore in Via del Proconsolo (1830), the Galileo Tribune in the Museo di Fisica e Storia Naturale (1841-60), the church of Santa Caterina and the palace for the Italian Exposition (1861). His work as a restorer is also of considerable historic interest. There is the splendid large spiral staircase from the remodeling of the Monastero Nuovo in Via della Scale, which he transformed into the Istituto della SS. Annunziata (1823-24).

Gaetano Baccani (1792-1867) built the little tower in the Palazzo Torrigiani (1821), the bell tower of Santa Croce (1842) and the new organs in the cathedral to replace two choirs by Donatello and Luca della Robbia (1842). The original bell tower of Santa Croce, on the roof of the choir, had collapsed in the XVI century. Francesco da Sangallo had begun a new bell tower on the left of the façade. Construction never proceeded beyond the stone base which was demolished in 1854. Baccani's new bell tower coherently marked the presence in the urban landscape of the Franciscan complex which up to then was only noted because of the church's enormous size, emerging from amidst the roofs only in view of the eastern part of the city. Another singular example of translating "Neogothic" architecture is the small building on Il Prato which the sculptor Ignazio Villa built for himself (fig. 23).

The façade of Santa Croce 1853-63. was designed by Nicolas Matas (1798-1872) who also did the plans for the bell tower of San Miniato (1845). Thus another of the large, mute façades that overlooked the largest piazzas and which could correspond to the Florentine spirit better than any other design past or present, disappeared. In the middle of the bare façade of Santa Croce there was a single piece of art which hence took on a very special value and meaning: Donatello's gilded bronze statue of St. Louis.

For centuries Florentine architects had been working more on transforming, rebuilding and in some cases, enlarging old existing structures. From the eighteenth and then in the nineteenth century, this was a real poetic of "restoration".

If we try to draw up a balance sheet of the Lorraine period, we must acknowledge that the Grand Duchy's wise management did guarantee territorial order. The reclamation works, the status of the crown forests, the infrastructures such as aqueducts and roads configured a regional system that was among the most efficient in all of Italy.

Florence's role as the regional cultural center was also affirmed under the Lorraine rule, and was further confirmed and strengthened during the Napoleonic occupation. One of its main components was in fact the presence of foreigners and intellectual visitors whose numbers increased steadily from the early years of the nineteenth century on. The Gabinetto Vieusseux, opened in 1819 was a center where the foreigners would meet.

Through the pages of the Antologia the group led by Gino Capponi tried to create a rapport with the new liberal European culture. Between 1833 and 1846 Emanuele Repetti, member of the I. e R. Accademia dei Georgofili published the volumes of the monumental "Dizionario Geografico Fisico Storico della Toscana" containing all the locations of the Grand Duke, the Dukes of Lucca, Garfagnana e Lunigiana. It is outstanding work showing the dedication and ability of its authors, and also is one of the most significant examples of early nineteenth century bourgeois historiography.

Other remarkable examples are the works by Attilio Zuccagni Orlandini who, among other books, wrote the "Atlante Geografico Fisico e Storico del Granducato di Toscana" (1832) and "Ricerche Statistiche sul Granducato di Toscana" in five volumes (1848-54).

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