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Orsanmichele: The Birthplace of the Italian Renaissance
Orsanmichele is a building located in the Italian city of Florence, north of the Arno River, and currently serves as a church. Being known primarily as the Church of Orsanmichele since the 1340s, it is surprising to believe that it was not always situated for religious purposes but had commercial intentions in its original construction. Over a period of time, the building underwent a transition from an open loggia for the market towards a closed place of worship. This unique duality of Orsanmichele’s function not only depicts a connection between religion and government in Renaissance Florence but shows a strong unification of these two bodies in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The name “Orsanmichele” is a condensed version of its original, “San Michele in Orto”. This name draws reference to Saint Michael in Christianity, who “serves as the patron saint of sick people who are suffering from any type of illness.” Before the modern-day building, the site of Orsanmichele held a smaller building called an oratory, or a small chapel for the purpose of private worship. Fully surrounding the oratory was a garden, which was part of the Benedictine monastery. This description helps us understand the translation of the original name ‘San Michele in Orto” to English meaning, “Saint Michael in the Garden.” The oratory had been around since approximately the late 800s, but after nearly five hundred years, the small structure was demolished to pave the way for bigger plans concerning the site in the late 1230s.
At this point, the site was the acquisition by the city of Florence, making it a space for the public. Florentine officials took into consideration the rapid growth of their city’s population and concluded it was a good idea to provide a grain market for the public to enjoy. Architect Arnolfo di Cambio headed the construction process, designing a loggia implementation of the building, so the market could allow plenty of foot traffic coming in and out to buy and sell. Commerce bustled inside the loggia, and on one of the columns, there was an image of The Madonna or the Virgin Mary. Due to the tough circumstances during the height of the bubonic plague in the 1340s, as well as famine and war, people came to pray to Mary, with many claiming miracles that have been done on her part. In this time period, civilians were not just “praying to pray”, but rather they were praying for the biblical saints to intervene and save them from the aforementioned circumstances. In Orsanmichele, the Virgin Mary was the most significant saint represented. As time progressed, more Florentines entered the loggia for their own religious needs rather than for the good of the market.
In an unfortunate, yet opportune turn of events, a fire in 1304 destroyed most of the loggia, since a majority of it was made of wood. With a chance a start fresh, the city was able to address the problem of heightened war threats during this time. A new loggia was constructed in 1337, and an additional two floors above it were added. The loggia was tall, and the open sides consisted of high arches, which helped create an architectural pleasance, while also structurally supporting the rest of the building. The floor above the loggia (the second floor) was used for offices and extra storage space. The third (top) floor served as a holding area for Florence’s grain supply, should there have been an occasion of siege or famine during a period of war. There were a number of columns that supported the structure but were also hollowed out, acting as chutes for quick access to the grain held in storage. The picture on the previous page shows the opening in the column on the bottom floor, where the grain would come out.
Returning to the fire destroying the original structure, the image of its Madonna was also destroyed. This prompted the city to commission a new Madonna by painter Bernardo Daddi. On a fresco, Daddi created the “Madonna delle Grazie” in 1346 (shown below) to be placed in a central location of the interior of the building. The Virgin Mary was so personable with the city that in 1359 they hired a sculptor going by the name of Orcagna to build a tabernacle enclosing Daddi’s Madonna delle Grazie (shown right). It took Orcagna about ten years to complete the project. While the project was ongoing, the building officially began its makeover towards a fully operational church. As the space in the loggia had become more crowded with religious worshipers, there was not much room with the site now functioning as both a place of commerce and worship. With the busyness inside, Orcagna did not have the space required to properly work. In response, the openings below the arched walls were filled with brick and mortar, and the market was officially put to rest inside Orsanmichele.
Circling back on the claim that the government body and religious body were closely intertwined in the 14th and 15th centuries, the city summoned guilds to erect statues of the saints they would like, to help decorate the facade of the newly found Church of Orsanmichele. The fourteen niches found on the exterior walls needed to be filled to help create an image that the building was no longer a marketplace, but instead a holy and beautiful church. The guilds selected their own patron saint, and their body’s trade identity became enmeshed with religion. Initially, work was slow on completing the statues, but after a law was passed in 1407 by the Florentine government threatening to take away guilds’ rights to their niche, the openings began to fill up with marble or bronze statues very quickly. Guilds commissioned highly renowned sculptors like Filippo Brunelleschi, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, and Nanni di Banco to sculpt masterpieces of the saints such as St. Peter, St. John the Baptist, St. George, and Quattro Santi Coronati (Four Saints) respectively. Most of these statues were completed in the 15th century and took anywhere from a year to multiple years to finish. The wealthier guilds spent more to have their saint sculpted in bronze, which was far more expensive than regular stone. For a size and volume reference, Ghiberti’s bronze statue of St. John the Baptist (up and right) measures over eight feet tall. Also, notice how much volumetric space the statue resides in by observing the amount of shadow created in the image. These statues are pieces that exemplify a transition and shift in art coming into full force in the early 15th century. The amount of detail put into the process, whether additive by bronze, or subtractive by marble show that Italian sculptors had put themselves on a pedestal in the hierarchy of craft, and rightfully so.
This square and the not-overly-tall building do not necessarily stand out at first glance from the outside. But if one takes the time to research its history and know its story, it comes together beautifully. There’s an exterior decorated by the best up-and-coming artists of their time, an interior that encases the spirit of Florence, and most importantly there is a structure that is a snapshot itself of Italian Renaissance history. Although the statues that are seen in the niches today are copies because all of the originals were moved to museums for protective purposes, Orsanmichele continues to tell its story. If someone walks by Orsanmichele today, they will be able to tell that this building was special, whether it’s all of the statues of saints, the massive tabernacle encasing the Madonna, or simply the remnants of an old granary.
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