Private tour of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence

Private tour of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence

“Palazzo Vecchio alchemical & Signoria Sq”

A visit inside Palazzo Vecchio to rediscover the alchemical symbolism of the paintings in the apartments of Cosimo I de’ Medici and Eleonora di Toledo. At the beginning of the 16th century Cosimo I just elected Duke of Florence, restructured the ancient Palazzo dei Priori, chosen for strategic reasons as his main residence. Giorgio Vasari will be the perfect interpreter of the hermetic thought of the Duke who had placed his alchemical laboratory right inside the palace. Vasari, at the head of a team of young collaborators, decorated the private rooms of the Duke and his wife Eleonora with a series of frescoes with secret symbols, which will have their apotheosis in the so-called Sala dell’Udienza, on whose walls, in the form of emblematic figures, the allegories of the Alchemical Work unfold.

Half-day tour, subject to the opening hours of Palazzo Vecchio; normally closed on Thursday afternoons.