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Home Page Ciao Adriano 2007 Paradoxplace 2006 Page Log West Burgundy Tuscany Restaurants Chianti Gold PUGLIA Leuca Olives Galatina Otranto Lecce SM di Cerrate Molfetta Bitonto Trani Porto Trani Cattedrale Ruvo Troia Gargano TUSCANY South of Siena The Best Lunch Chianti Florence Evening Foundling Hospital PIEMONTE Moscato in Mango Barbaresco Evening Tartufo Beginning Tre Stelle Lunch Tartufo Market Tartufo Festival ROME Around Rome Rome Gatherings Farnese Palace Turtles Fountain San Crisogono Sant'Ivo Santa Bibiana Rome Restaurants Bellatrovata

 

BRUNELLESCHI'S SPEDALE DEGLI INNOCENTI

(FOUNDLING HOSPITAL)

 

Brunelleschi first catapulted to architectural fame with his design and subsequent building management in the 1420s of the Spedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) between San Marco and the Duomo in Florence.  The elegant colonnaded facade was a completely new look (as was much of the hospital design) which launched Renaissance Architecture.  Sadly it also sounded the death knell on most Romanesque and earlier stuff that ended up being demolished to make way for the Renaissance - so much so that there is now only one Romanesque cloister left in the whole of Tuscany (at Torri, west of Siena).

 

Also sadly, today the Piazza della SS Annunziata is an unloved and disgraceful mess of illegally parked cars, rubbish bins (and often trucks - it seems to be a garbo social centre), wooden hoardings, the odd drug pusher and other stuff.  In the past it has also been used as an outdoor concert theatre.  The place looked better in 2005 (below) but sadly the sun did not shine on the day we were there.  However, the photo does give a good idea of how the whole facade looks. 

 

 

So, back to 2006 ....

 

 

On the horse riding towards the Duomo is Grand Duke Ferdinando I (de'Medici), captured by an 80 year old Giambologna in 1608.  For your trivia quota - the statue was cast using bronze from canons captured from the Barbareschi during the North Africa expedition led by the Knights of the Order of St Stephen in 1607.

 

 

More beautifully, in 1487 Andrea della Robbia produced eight glazed terracotta roundels picturing infants in swaddling bands, which were set in the spandrels between the arches.  When the hospital was operational there was a sort of monster "Lazy Susan" structure on which you could place your unwanted baby and spin it off anonymously into the hospital within.

 

 

Links to other pages in domparadox.com and other paradox sites

 

Home Page Ciao Adriano 2007 Paradoxplace 2006 Page Log West Burgundy Tuscany Restaurants Chianti Gold PUGLIA Leuca Olives Galatina Otranto Lecce SM di Cerrate Molfetta Bitonto Trani Porto Trani Cattedrale Ruvo Troia Gargano TUSCANY South of Siena The Best Lunch Chianti Florence Evening Foundling Hospital PIEMONTE Moscato in Mango Barbaresco Evening Tartufo Beginning Tre Stelle Lunch Tartufo Market Tartufo Festival ROME Around Rome Rome Gatherings Farnese Palace Turtles Fountain San Crisogono Sant'Ivo Santa Bibiana Rome Restaurants Bellatrovata

 

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