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In the Third Court of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence: Identification of Medieval Pre-Existing Structures

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In the Third Court of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence: Identification of Medieval Pre-Existing Structures Transactions on the Built Environment vol 15, © 1995 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 An 'insula' in the third court of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence: identification of medieval pre-existing structures M. Pecchioli, A. Corrado, L. Bardi Dipartimento di Costruzioni, Facolta di Architettura deirUniversita degliStudi, Piazza Brunelleschi n.6, Firenze, Italy Abstract The reinforcement of a monumental organism is unique only if the evolutionary process of the building unit is known, the history and its rearrangements will show the effective static functioning as well as the inadequacy of certain structural modifications. The research starts by investigating the crack pattern observed on the back of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and particularly the damage found on a pillar of the %ade in Via della Ninna. The crack seems to involve the part facing Via dei Leoni and some internal bearing walls. The study is an inspection to best comprehend the structural functioning and analyze which stresses to use in a model, whether numerical or experimental photoelastic. The annotated survey rebuilt the architectural history all around the third court of Palazzo Vecchio, confirmed and supported by iconographic and historical documentations as well as latest essays on the monument. The paper runs over the building phases of the part of palace interested by the damage, noticing two ancient pre-existing structures and their pertinencies, the modifications and inclusions occured during the centuries up to the present setting. 1 Introduction During these past years the identification of a sinking found in the pillar "pl"(fig.l) situated at the ground floor of the via delta Ninna %ade proved the necessity to locate both the functioning of the building elements around the area of the sinking and the interventions that might have caused this crack pattern. The restructuring promoted by the duke Cosimo I during the Renaissance, started by Marco del Tasso and then completed by Giorgio Vasari with the Transactions on the Built Environment vol 15, © 1995 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 62 Architectural Studies, Materials & Analysis setting up of the Monumental Quarters shows a compact organism. On the contrary this Palace wing offers a very articulated architectural definition composed of gradual inclusions of medieval building units, partly still recognizable, pre-existing to the Arnolfo di Cambio part (1298) facing Piazza della Signoria. A comparison of various investigations revealed some banal dissimilarities which, when analyzed, brought to dispute the structural interpretation which attributed to the corner module a strong bearing function, identifying it as a medieval tower rearranged during the Renaissance: 1) the erroneus position of the monumental portal reveal located on the ground floor between the corner module and the following one going back up towards Via Della Ninna "a"(fig.2). The important opening seemed to be the entrance to the first body of building 'T'(fig.2), but a more precise inspection shows that the portal lets in the second module which represents the extension of a considerable medieval palace owned by an aristocratic family called Manieri. The Manieri building, today completely incorporated in Palazzo Vecchio and never before identified, was bought by the Town Hall in 1335; 2) the pillar "p2"(fig.2) previously recognized as a pre-existing roman element, instead, for ornamental and building characteristcs, looks like those of the Manieri Loggia (fig. 2) and therefore not ranged. The study proceeded with the search of a former setting that would respect the ranges of the pre-existing pilasters, comparing present and past differences in level, materials and technologies in relation to the local history. So it has been possible to discover an entire island built in medieval ages on the space of the third court, with an extraordinary typological variety (palaces, public and private loggias, consortial towers,"domus parvae") and an articulated internal road network. In this way the damage was located between two important palaces (XI-XII cen.) where a road, via dei Manieri, had been for centuries. 2 The facades surrounding the sinking Via della Ninna The prospect (fig. 1) is of bush-hammered stone up to the monumental floor in the way that goes from the corner to the eighth window. From the monumental floor to the top, from the first to the sixth window, the facade is plastered, in the following two modules it is again of bush-hammered stone, though this part was modified when the Salone dei Cinquecento was built (1495). Between the first and the second window a seam wall without toothing V(fig.l) is evident, but it is impossible to establish if the mark persists on higher floors than the first one because of the plastering. Apparently this means that the two parts of the building, determined by the vertical line, were built in different periods. On the third floor, holes over jutties of stone, made for balconies according to the building custom in use during all of the XIV century [1],[2],[3], prove the entire corner was not born after this period even though it follows the Manieri Transactions on the Built Environment vol 15, © 1995 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 Architectural Studies, Materials & Analysis 63 plaster stone smooth walling base bush hammered stone bush hammered stone XV century rusticated wall VIA DELIA NINNA figure 1: fagade. Pi - P7 '. pillars of Manieri's loggia figure 2: ground floor plan. Transactions on the Built Environment vol 15, © 1995 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 64 Architectural Studies, Materials & Analysis complex. A similar separation "y" (fig.l) between the eighth and ninth window rises to the Salone dei Cinquecento first row of windows. From the ninth window to the Arnolfo's nucleus the building shows a very different hanging: a stone smooth walling base with a string-course frame, further up a rusticated wall that calls to mind Palazzo Medici-Riccardi (XV century). Therefore the Manieri palace forms a single building unit between the second and eighth window. Via dei Leoni The part facing Via dei Leoni is marked by a similar discontinuity "z"(fig.2): next to the corner rose a palace with consortial tower which was Manieri and Mancini families' property in 1319 [4]. The area on which the corner was built was a Benincasa "Filipetri" property instead. Anyway the complex is probably coeval with the repositioning of the city walls which took place in this area during the first half of the XI century [5]. Also in this case the corner was clearly built in adherence to the consortial palace and therefore after it. 3 Determination of the Palace's original setting Inside, the part of building in front of Uffizi Gallery, where the church of S. Piero Scheraggio (1066) once stood until the XVI century, shows a very complex stratification on the ground floor: an entrance door to the Manieri building, originally external "b"(fig.2), and a barrel vaults way V(fig.2) start from room "9", lead to the undergrounds of the third court to find, finally, an exit on Piazza della Signoria (north side). It was established that the passage is connected with the ancient Via di Bellanda and room "9" with a widening facing S. Piero in Scheraggio. The pillars of the church (deconsecrated in 1563), still visible in the entrance of the Gallery, look like those of the Manieri loggia. According to this fact and to the economic development of this part of the city, calling to mind that since the year 1010 the "Carroccio", symbol of the Commune's freedom, was kept in the religious building, the Loggia and the first setting of the Manieri Palace go back to the XI century. The demolition of S. Piero Scheraggio's left nave (1410) was decided in consequence of the fortification of the perimeter of Palazzo Vecchio willed by Duca d'Atene in 1343 [6], when he incorporated the "Platea di Bellanda" via della Ninna became a narrow corridor between the church and the ducal walls (fig.3). During the XV century Antonio del Pollaiolo, called // Cronaca, while building the Salone dei Cinquecento altered the underground, the ground and the first floor in order to create an adequate structure able to support new heightening stresses. So he eliminated completely the wide road on the side, or whatever was left of it. The central core of the Manieri Palace was supplied with a vaulted cellar "m" (fig.4) presently accessible through a staircase built in more recent times. The original entrance from Via della Ninna was about 120 cm. lower than the present one and it is still visible. Room V may be deemed coeval because of conforming building material, though modified to create the foundations for the Transactions on the Built Environment vol 15, © 1995 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 Architectural Studies, Materials & Analysis 65 ings Manieri s loggia figure 3: Palace original setting at the end of xni century. figure 4: subsoil plan PI m section A-A figure 4a: subsoil and ground floor section Transactions on the Built Environment vol 15, © 1995 WIT Press, www.witpress.com, ISSN 1743-3509 66 Architectural Studies, Materials & Analysis Salone dei Cinquecento, while rooms "q" and V were added afterwards and in their barrel vaults there is a formwork structure. The head of the vault is at an upper level compared to the impost plane of the internal pillar, so that it was necessary to make the loft about 8O cm higher and to hide the base (fig.4a). The street-corner in addition to the two main buildings was made according to the pattern (fig. 5). The complex without it was like (fig.
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