Postcard Florence, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, Edizioni Z.B.

Italian postcard from the nineteen-twenties or thirties showing a sepia phototype of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, seen from the Piazza della Signoria. The image shows the monumental trecento façade of the palace with its crenellated cornice and arcaded gallery, surmounted by the Torre di Arnolfo rising ninety-four metres. In the lower left on the square the Neptune Fountain by Bartolomeo Ammannati, at the centre before the entrance the copy of Michelangelo's David, and on the right under the arch the Loggia dei Lanzi with its visible sculpture. On the square itself several pedestrians and a horse-drawn carriage that mark the scale and early twentieth century atmosphere. On the verso the caption "Firenze - Palazzo Vecchio." and the publisher's mark "Ediz. Z.B. - Firenze", with the bilingual printing indication "Imprimé en Italie / Printed in Italy". The verso is unwritten and unposted. The card is in good condition.

The Palazzo Vecchio was built between 1299 and 1314 to designs by Arnolfo di Cambio as the seat of the Signoria of Florence, the council that governed the Florentine Republic. The massive rusticated masonry of roughly hewn pietra forte and the characteristic crenellations made the building an architectural statement of republican power. The Torre di Arnolfo, placed asymmetrically on the façade, became from its completion an immovable landmark of Florence. In 1540 Cosimo I de' Medici moved his court here, transforming the palace from a republican government building into a ducal residence; Giorgio Vasari carried out extensive interior alterations in the following years. Since 1872 the Palazzo Vecchio has again functioned as the town hall of Florence. The Piazza della Signoria around it has for centuries been the political and ceremonial heart of the city, where sentences were pronounced, the Medici were received, and Savonarola was burnt at the stake in 1498.