The stunning Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy.
It looks out onto the Piazza della Signoria (I cover that in a separate post).
For me, the most impressive part of the building (goodness, there are SOOO many impressive features!) is The Salone dei Cinquecento (‘Hall of the Five Hundred’). It was built in 1494 by Simone del Pollaiolo. Just – WOW!
Michelangelo’s David also stood at the entrance from its completion in 1504 to 1873, when it was moved to the accademia Gallery. A replica erected in 1910 now stands in its place.
There is a famous story of one disaster (ref Wikipedia) – “Leonardo was commissioned in 1503 to paint one long wall with a battle scene celebrating a famous Florentine victory. He was always trying new methods and materials and decided to mix wax into his pigments. Da Vinci had finished painting part of the wall, but it was not drying fast enough, so he brought in braziers stoked with hot coals to try to hurry the process. As others watched in horror, the wax in the fresco melted under the intense heat and the colors ran down the walls to puddle on the floor.”
~ Bella
