1. Monastery of San Marco - Machiavelli’s Savonarola2. The First Performance of "The Mandrake" at Palazzo Medici Riccardi3. The Basilica of San Lorenzo - Preaching to the Women4. Piazza della Signoria - A Citizens’ Militia5. Palazzo Vecchio - Machiavelli and the Florentine Chancery6. The Loggia della Signoria (or “dei Lanzi”) - Machiavelli, the Republic and the Medicean Signoria7. The Bargello - Machiavelli and the War8. The Tabernacle of the Stinche - Machiavelli as Prisoner910. Santa Croce - the Death of Niccolò Machiavelli11. Palazzo Strozzi - the Fortune of Machiavelli
Casa Buonarroti - The Fortifications of Florence
In the 1520s, Niccolò Machiavelli managed to approach the Medicean government and obtain some rather important posts. Most notably, during the formation of the League of Cognac, the anti-imperial alliance promoted by King Francis I of France which included Florence and the Rome of Pope Clement VII/Giulio de' Medici, Machiavelli was chosen to preside over the fortifications of Florence's city walls. Shortly thereafter came the defeat of the League, the downfall of Medicean rule with the ensuing return of the republican regime, and the death of Niccolò, so that the work remained unfinished. The project was then resumed by the new government, and such an eminent personage as Michelangelo Buonarroti was appointed director of the fortifications. Although these new fortifications were never built, due to Michelangelo's overly complex projects and the short duration of the new republic, important preparatory plans have remained, now to be found at the Casa Buonarroti.
The Casa Buonarroti is situated not far from the Tabernacle of the Stinche (and from the Murate), still on Via Ghibellina. It occupies a site on which stood three houses bought by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1508, where he lived from 1515 to 1526. The Casa Buonarroti displays many fascinating objects, starting with the sculptures collected over the years by Michelangelo's descendants, but what is most interesting for us here are the sixteen drawings done by the artist and his assistants for strengthening the Florentine defensive structures. In the fortification projects emerges a close interconnection between the artistic dimension and practical requisites, those of military defence at a time when firearms were becoming increasingly important. Particularly representative is the drawing on Folio 13 A, a Study for the fortification of Porta al Prato di Ognissanti. With great expertise - and the finest aesthetic results - it proposes a pincer-like structure enhanced by re-entrants where the bombardiers are withdrawn to multiply the posts of attack. A simple image clearly reveals the decline of the medieval fortresses - designed for defence against traditional weapons, and made obsolete by the advent of gunpowder - and the need for architectural innovations able to meet the imminent threats of military nature.
Niccolò Machiavelli had an irresistible political vocation, which clearly emerges in most of the pages he wrote, whether private or official letters, historical works or other. His dismissal from public office with the downfall of the Republic and the return of the Medici to Florence was a heavy blow, which he tried to mitigate in the following years. His first important chance to approach the new lords of Florence occurred with the wedding of Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, where his play The Mandrake (Mandragola) may have been performed. But a real glimmer of hope in Machiavelli's situation came after the death of Lorenzo, when Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, the future Pope Clement VII, assumed a leading role in the city. Cardinal Giulio immediately promoted several reforms in the Florentine institutions, to which Machiavelli contributed with his Discourse on Reforming the Government of Florence (Discorso sopra il riformare lo Stato di Firenze). In November 1520 the Studio Fiorentino, at the recommendation of Cardinal Giulio, assigned Machiavelli the task of writing a history of the city. Although this was a literary, not a political, activity, it was the first major public assignment given him by the Medici. In 1525 Machiavelli consigned to Clement VII, who had become pope in 1523, the eight books of the Florentine Histories (Istorie fiorentine).
In writing the Florentine Histories, Machiavelli was not, and had no intention of being, a courtier. He strove to write an honest history, although conditioned at times by his political theories, as when he discusses the role of mercenary troops, in general excessively deplored. Machiavelli was however aware of the power of his clients, of the impossibility of harshly criticizing the conduct of the Medici, and even less of considering them tyrants. In a letter to Francesco Guicciardini, Machiavelli requests his diplomatic advice in regard to the Histories, asking him to decide whether, in his intellectual honesty, he had been too offensive in criticizing someone close to the new lords, or in praising one of their old enemies. Even at the moment when he was closest to the Medici, Machiavelli remained independent in his politics and his judgements, although fully aware of power relationships and the effective political reality.
After having been dismissed from public office at the fall of the Florentine Republic in 1512, Niccolò Machiavelli tried in every way to gain the favour of the new lords of Florence, hoping to re-enter political life and make himself useful to his homeland. In 1518 came a chance to attract attention for his literary ability - the talent he was most appreciated for at this time - with the festivities for the wedding of Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, where The Mandrake (Mandragola), Machiavelli's famous play, may have been performed. It was however in the 1520s that he managed to approach the Medicean government more closely, obtaining posts of some prestige but without entering so deeply into the beating heart of Florentine political activity as before, with the previous regime. During those years he was assigned to write the Florentine Histories (Istorie fiorentine) whose first eight books were then consigned to Clement VII (the second Medici pope after Leo X) in 1525. In the meantime, the political situation was 'heating up' with Francis I of France - who had been captured by the army of Charles V and then freed - organizing the League of Cognac, which included Rome and Florence, against the Emperor. In this intricate political climate Machiavelli managed to obtain an important assignment, not literary in this case, from Pope Clement VII. He was delegated - perhaps due to the fame brought him by his book The Art of War (Arte della Guerra) - to accompany the engineer Pietro Navarra in inspecting the Florentine defensive structures and planning improvements. Machiavelli wrote the Relazione di una visita fatta per fortificare Firenze [Report on a visit made to fortify Florence]. He was then appointed Chancellor and Director of the Magistrate of the Five Supervisors of the walls. During this same period he tried to persuade the pope, through Francesco Guicciardini, to staunchly support the cause of war against Charles V; but soon afterward the situation worsened drastically, as the armies of the League performed poorly and the Lansquenets of Charles V invaded Rome and sacked it mercilessly. In Florence the Medicean government fell, and Machiavelli was again removed from office.
