DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61902#0131
1?HE MAKERS OF FLORENCE. 111
blico, the two great churches of Santa Croce and Santa
Maria Novella, all leaped into being within a few years,
almost simultaneously. The Duomo was founded, as some
say, in 1294, the same year in which Santa Croce was
begun, or, according to others, in 1298; and between these
two dates, in 1296, the palace of the signoria, the seat of
the commonwealth, the center of all public life, had its
commencement. All these great buildings Arnolfo designed
and began, and his genius requires no other evidence. The
stern strength of the Palazzo, upright and strong like a
knight in mail, and the large and noble lines of the cathe-
dral, ample and liberal and majestic in ornate robes and
wealthy ornaments, show how well he knew how to vary
and adapt his art to the different requirements of munici-
pal and religious life and to the necessities of the age.
The position of the Palazzo is of itself an example of
those distracted times. It was built at the side, and not,
as the architect wished, in the center of the square over
which it still presides, for the strange reason that upon
part of the square the palace of the Uberti family bad once
stood, and, fiercely fanatical in party feeling, the Guelf
rulers would not touch even with the foundation of their
public buildings the accursed soil upon which that race of
Ghibellines had once flourished! Well might Farinata, in
the “ Inferno/’ ask and wonder why his townsmen so hated
his family and name. Peaceful Arnolfo, who had been
working out in the world for Guelf and Ghibelline alike,
had to yield to this passionate enmity, and shrugged his
shoulders no doubt, and changed his plan, knocking down
a few other old houses and part of a church to make room
in the corner for his palace, where it still stands, slightly
askew, an everlasting monument of that superstition of
faction and hatred which is worse than any other supersti-
tion. He had to please his masters of the signoria at the
same time by building into his new erection a certain
blico, the two great churches of Santa Croce and Santa
Maria Novella, all leaped into being within a few years,
almost simultaneously. The Duomo was founded, as some
say, in 1294, the same year in which Santa Croce was
begun, or, according to others, in 1298; and between these
two dates, in 1296, the palace of the signoria, the seat of
the commonwealth, the center of all public life, had its
commencement. All these great buildings Arnolfo designed
and began, and his genius requires no other evidence. The
stern strength of the Palazzo, upright and strong like a
knight in mail, and the large and noble lines of the cathe-
dral, ample and liberal and majestic in ornate robes and
wealthy ornaments, show how well he knew how to vary
and adapt his art to the different requirements of munici-
pal and religious life and to the necessities of the age.
The position of the Palazzo is of itself an example of
those distracted times. It was built at the side, and not,
as the architect wished, in the center of the square over
which it still presides, for the strange reason that upon
part of the square the palace of the Uberti family bad once
stood, and, fiercely fanatical in party feeling, the Guelf
rulers would not touch even with the foundation of their
public buildings the accursed soil upon which that race of
Ghibellines had once flourished! Well might Farinata, in
the “ Inferno/’ ask and wonder why his townsmen so hated
his family and name. Peaceful Arnolfo, who had been
working out in the world for Guelf and Ghibelline alike,
had to yield to this passionate enmity, and shrugged his
shoulders no doubt, and changed his plan, knocking down
a few other old houses and part of a church to make room
in the corner for his palace, where it still stands, slightly
askew, an everlasting monument of that superstition of
faction and hatred which is worse than any other supersti-
tion. He had to please his masters of the signoria at the
same time by building into his new erection a certain