#grain market

FLORENTINE CIVIC SCULPTURE I: THE EXTERIOR SCULPTURES OF ORSANMICHELE

For the first quarter of the 15th century, the guild church of Orsanmichele was a constantly evolving display space for Florentine sculpture, with innovative figures by major sculptors appearing on the exterior every 1-3 years. Some of the most important developments in Renaissance sculpture occurred at Orsanmichele, including the use of linear perspective in relief sculpture and the recovery of the ancient techniques of monumental bronze casting.

1337: Loggia constructed in the Florentine grain market at Orsanmichele.

1348: Orsanmichele converted to a chapel for major guilds of Florence. Upper level converted to municipal granary.

1359: Loggia enclosed.

1380-1404: City’s 14 major guilds required to supply full-sized, free-standing bronze or marble statue of its patron saint for placement in a niche on the exterior of the ground floor. Cost of bronze figure approximately 10 times more than marble figure.

1399: Giovanni di Piero Tedesco, Madonna of the Rose (marble), Arte del Medici e Speziali, installed.

1406: With only 3 of 14 statues installed, city ordinance requires all guild statues installed by 1416.

1408: Nanni di Banco, Quattro Santi Coronati (marble), Maestri di Pietra e Legname, installed.

1411: Donatello, St Mark (marble), Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri, installed.

1411-1415: Nanni di Banco, St Eligius (marble), Arte dei Maniscalchi, installed.

1412-1414: Nanni di Banco, St Philip (marble), Arte dei Calzaiuoli, installed.

1412-1416: Lorenzo Ghiberti, St John the Baptist (bronze), Arte di Calimana, installed.

1412-1415: Niccolò di Piero Lamberti, St James the Major (marble), Arte dei Conciatori e Pellicciai, installed.

1415: Filippo Brunelleschi, St Peter (marble), Arte dei Becchai, installed.

1416: Donatello, St George (marble), Arte dei Corazzai, installed.

1419-1420: Lorenzo Ghiberti, St Matthew (bronze), Arte del Cambio, installed.

1423-1425: Donatello, St Louis of Toulouse (bronze), Parte Guelfa, installed. Later replaced by Verrochio group.

1428: Lorenzo Ghiberti, St Stephen (bronze), Arte della Lana, installed.

1467-1483: Andrea del Verrocchio, Christ and St Thomas (bronze), Tribunale di Mercanzia, installed.