Florentine Mosaics

PRIVATE GUIDED TOUR OF FLORENTINE MOSAICS

The tour starts at the Cappelle Medici (Medici Chapels), where we will admire a particularly fine example of Florentine mosaic in the Chapel of the Princes, a huge octagonal mausoleum dedicated to the glory of the Medici Family and entirely covered in marbles and semi-precious stones. The Chapel is the most important example of Baroque art in Florence and its decoration proceeded very slowly because of the complexity of the workmanship and the enormous expenses involved. Rare marbles were in fact imported from all over Europe, Africa and even from India and the cost of the decoration was so high that, once the Medici dynasty died out, their successors refused to pay for further work on the monument!

We can visit a modern workshop of Commmesso where we can still see the artisans at work - but it could be more appropriate to call them artists because the training for this amazing stone-painting lasts, at least, seven years.

Then, we will tour Santa Maria Novella and its Pharmacy, one of the oldest in the world. This amazing church dates from the 13th century and it is home to some of the most uniqe works of art in the Renaissance period, such as Masaccio's Trinity and Filippion Lippi's Strozzi Chapel. Furthermore, you will see the impressive Cappellone degli Spagnoli, with its amazing frescoes.