What is the Orsanmichele and why was it built?
The Florentine building known as Orsanmichele was one of the most important places for sculpture in the early Renaissance years. Built in 1337, it was used to store grain and was owned by the city.
What was the Orsanmichele project?
Built by the city guilds, which encompassed both civil and religious functions, Orsanmichele was constructed in 1336, on the site of San Michele monastery’s kitchen garden. Originally a grain market, it was converted into a church from 1380 to 1404 and used as a chapel for the craft and trade guilds.
What are some artworks found inside the Orsanmichele?
Saint Peter by Donatello.
What is so significant about Donatello’s Saint Mark?
Donatello’s Saint Mark was the first of three pieces completed for exterior niches of the church of Orsanmichele. It was commissioned by the linen weaver’s guild and presented in completion between 1411-1413. St. Mark is revered as the creator of the Church of Alexandria.
Where can I see the originals of the Orsanmichele?
The originals mainly reside in the museum of Orsanmichele, which occupies the upper floor of the church, and can be seen on every Monday, the only day when the museum is open.
When does the Orsanmichele church in Florence reopen?
The Church and the Museum of Orsanmichele are temporarily closed. The reopening is scheduled for December 23, 2019. Orsanmichele is a rather long name for a church, comprised of three different words all compressed into one. First documented in the year 895, it stood as an oratory in the monastery St. Michael (San Michele).
Where is the Museum of Orsanmichele in Florence?
The statues are currently being restored one by one and moved to the upper floor of the former granary, now the Museum of Orsanmichele (reached by the bridge from the adjacent Palazzo dell’Arte della Lana), their places in the niches being filled by copies.
What was the purpose of the Orsanmichele building?
Orsanmichele’s unique history as a site that has radically changed function over the centuries is infinitely interesting. It is speculated that in Roman times there was a building here dedicated to the worship of Isis.
