Orsanmichele is a church in the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 city of Florence

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

. The building was constructed on the site of the kitchen garden

Kitchen garden

The traditional kitchen garden, also known as a potager, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden - the ornamental plants and lawn areas...

 of the monastery of San Michele, which is now gone.

Located on the Via Calzaiuoli in Florence, the church was originally built as a grain market

Market

A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...

 in 1337 by Francesco Talenti, Neri di Fioravante, and Benci di Cione. Between 1380 and 1404 it was converted into a church used as the chapel of Florence's powerful craft and trade guilds. On the ground floor of the square building are the 13th century arches that originally formed the loggia

Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...

 of the grain market. The second floor was devoted to offices, while the third housed one of the city's municipal grain storehouses, maintained to withstand famine or siege. Late in the 14th century, the guilds were charged by the city to commission statues of their patron saints to embellish the facades of the church. The sculptures seen today are copies, the originals having been removed to museums (see below).

Interior

Inside the church is Andrea Orcagna

Andrea Orcagna

Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo , better known as Orcagna, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect active in Florence. A student of Andrea Pisano as well as Giotto di Bondone, his younger brothers Jacopo di Cione and Nardo di Cione were also artists...

's bejeweled Gothic Tabernacle (1355-59) encasing a repainting by Bernardo Daddi

Bernardo Daddi

Bernardo Daddi was an early Italian renaissance painter and apprentice of Giotto. He was also influenced by the Sienese art of Lorenzetti....

's of an older icon of the 'Madonna and Child'.

Exterior

The facades held 14 architecturally designed external niches, which were filled from 1399 to around 1430. The three richest guilds opted to make their figures in the far more costly bronze, which cost approximately ten times the amount of the stone figures.

Niche	Statue	Sculptor	Guild	Year	Notes
	Virgin and Child	Simone di Ferrucci	Medici e Speziali (doctors and apothecaries)	1399
	Quattro Santi Coronati (Four Crowned Martyrs Four Crowned Martyrs The designation Four Crowned Martyrs or Four Holy Crowned Ones actually refers to 9 separate martyrs, divided into two groups:... or Four Saints)	Nanni di Banco Nanni di Banco Nanni d'Antonio di Banco was an Italian sculptor from Florence.He helped create the winning model for the Duomo of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence , under the leadership of Filippo Brunelleschi, alongside Donatello...	Maestri di Pietra e Legname (wood and stone workers) maybe a statue to a group? the freemasons Freemasonry Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge... ?	1408
	St. Mark St. Mark (Donatello) Donatello's Saint Mark is a marble statue that stands approximately seven feet and nine inches high in an exterior niche of the Orsanmichele church, Florence. Donatello was commissioned by the linen weavers' guild to complete three pieces for the project. St. Mark was the first of his...	Donatello Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...	Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri (linen-weavers and peddlers)	1411
	St. Philip	Nanni di Banco Nanni di Banco Nanni d'Antonio di Banco was an Italian sculptor from Florence.He helped create the winning model for the Duomo of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence , under the leadership of Filippo Brunelleschi, alongside Donatello...	Arte dei Calzaiuoli (shoemakers)	1412-14
	Christ and St. Thomas Christ and St. Thomas (Verrocchio) Christ and St. Thomas is a bronze statue by Andrea del Verrocchio located in one of the 14 niches of the Orsanmichele in Florence, Italy. The work depicts the Biblical account of Thomas the Apostle, who doubted the resurrection of Jesus and had to feel the wounds for himself in order to be convinced...	Andrea del Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio , born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was an Italian sculptor, goldsmith and painter who worked at the court of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence in the early renaissance. Few paintings are attributed to him with certainty, but a number of important painters were...	Tribunale di Mercanzia (merchants)	1467-83	Replaced St. Louis of Toulouse by Donatello (1413)
	St. Eligius	Nanni di Banco Nanni di Banco Nanni d'Antonio di Banco was an Italian sculptor from Florence.He helped create the winning model for the Duomo of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence , under the leadership of Filippo Brunelleschi, alongside Donatello...	Arte dei Maniscalchi (farriers)	1411-15
	St. James	Niccolò di Piero Lamberti Niccolò di Piero Lamberti Niccolò di Piero Lamberti , also known as Niccolò di Pietro Lamberti, Niccolo Aretino, Niccolò d'Arezzo and as il Pela, was an Italian sculptor and architect. Little is known about his life other than that he was married in Florence in 1392...	Arte dei Pellicciai (furriers)	1415	Attribution and year are uncertain
	St. Peter	Ciuffagni	Arte dei Beccai (butchers)	1415
	St. John the Baptist St. John the Baptist (Ghiberti) St. John the Baptist is a bronze statue by Lorenzo Ghiberti located in one of the 14 niches of the Orsanmichele in Florence, Italy. The statue of the Saint was commissioned by the cloth merchant's guild, the Arte di Calimala...	Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti , born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking.-Early life:...	Arte di Calimala Arte di Calimala The Arte di Calimala, the guild of the cloth finishers and merchants in foreign cloth, was one of the greater guilds of Florence, the Arti Maggiori, who arrogated to themselves the civic power of the Republic of Florence during the Late Middle Ages... (wool mechants)	1414-16
	St. George	Donatello Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...	Arte dei Corazzai (armourers)	1416
	St. Matthew	Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti , born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking.-Early life:...	Arte del Cambio (bankers)	1419-20
	St. Stephen	Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti , born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking.-Early life:...	Arte della Lana (wool manufacturers)	1428
	St. John the Evangelist	Baccio da Montelupo Baccio da Montelupo Baccio da Montelupo , born Bartolomeo di Giovanni d'Astore dei Sinibaldi, was a sculptor of the Italian Renaissance. He is the father of another Italian sculptor, Raffaello da Montelupo...	Arte della Seta (silk merchants)	1514
	St. Luke	Giambologna Giambologna Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, incorrectly known as Giovanni da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna , was a sculptor, known for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style.- Biography :...	Giudici e Notai (magistrates and notaries)	1601

Modern assessment

Orsanmichele's statuary is a relic of the fierce devotion and pride of Florentine trades, and a reminder that great art often arises out of a competitive climate. Each trade hoped to outdo the other in commissioning original, groundbreaking sculptures for public display on Florence's most important street, and the artists hired and materials used (especially bronze) indicate the importance that was placed on this site.

Today, all of the original sculptures have been removed and replaced with modern duplicates to protect them from the elements and vandalism. The originals mainly reside in the museum of Orsanmichele, which occupies the upper floor of the church, although the museum is indefinitely closed . Two works by Donatello

Donatello

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi , also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and sculptor from Florence...

 are in other Florentine museums: St. George and its niche are in the Bargello

Bargello

The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy.-Terminology:...

, and St. Louis of Toulouse is in the museum of the Basilica di Santa Croce.

External links

• Museums in Florence - Orsanmichele Church and Museum
• The Orsanmichele Museum