Palazzo Vecchio - Table of Contents   ...........................  Piazza della Signoria - Table of Contents

Entrance courtyard - Palazzo Vecchio
(pronounced: pa LOTS oh  VAKE eeoh)
AKA: Palazzo del Popolo   ...    Palazzo dei Priori,   ...   Palazzo Ducale
Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy

Entrance courtyard Entrance courtyard Designed in 1453 by Michelozzo   ...   Arcade windows   ...   Center fountain  by Battista del Tadda Entrance courtyard Arabesques decorate the ceilings   ...   Two medallions, which are detailed below   ...   Arcade   ...   Gilt and stucco decorate the Composite columns Entrance courtyard Composite column   ...   Scrolling acanthus leaves on shaft Entrance courtyard Grotesques and scrolling acanthus leaves Entrance courtyard  Florence's fleur-de-lis which, unlike similar symbols, includes two pistils Entrance courtyard                                        "Eagle Grasping the Dragon"     ...    The Guelphs and Ghibellines (eagle)  were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of central and northern Italy. Entrance courtyard The "Putto with Dolphin"  - an copy of which was originally made by Andrea del Verrocchio for the Villa Medici in Careggi, but it was brought to Palazzo Vecchio, when the son of Cosimo I married Joanna of Austria in 1565.    ...   Original now on display on the second floor of the palace   ...   The water, flowing through the nose of the dolphin, is brought here by pipes from the Boboli Gardens. which are located behind the Palazzo Pitti where Cosimo I moved c. 1850 Groined vaults  decorated with arabesques Entrance courtyard  Renaissance style (Mannerist)  arabesque decorations   ...   Barrel ceiling   ...   Detail below: Entrance courtyard Arabesque decorations feature grotesques Groin vault   ...   Detail below: Note two supporting tie rods   ...   Lower half detail below: Vitruvian wave   ...   Reeds