I wanted to write this post already some time ago but I've never had a quiet moment to sit myself with a cup of tea and tell you something about the photo that you'll find below.
It's not a great picture but I like it because it shows one of my favorites squares in Florence, Piazza Santa Trinita.
It's one of the places in Florence where the space is invaded by the sculpture.
On the square there is the Santa Trinita church on the left, the Palazzo Spini Feroni and the Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni on the right, the Column of Justice in the middle of the square. Palazzo Spini Feroni was built in the 14th century, Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni in the '20s of 16th cenutry by Baccio d'Agnolo. The column of Justice was donated to Cosimo I de Medici by the pope Pius IV in 1560 and the facade of the church was redesigned 30 years later. In this case the chronological order is quite important. The point is that the statues on the facade were the last element added to the square. If you look closely you see that they unify all space. Saint Alexius from the facade is looking up at the Justice. His glance directed out of the facade makes the space of his niche 'weaker', he seams less attached to the wall. He is also giving meaning to the space, to the distance that separates him from the column and from the figure of Justice. It creates a sort of meaningful tension between them.
It's not the only place in Florence where the statues virtually occupy the space of the city. Saint Thomas is slides out from the niche on the facade of Orsanmichele, Perseus is jealously observed by David and Hercules (there is a great essay on that by John Shearman in his Only Connect if you want to read more...) and probably many others that I still haven't discovered.
So walk carefully through the city, the statues are watching you!
Piazza Santa Trinita, Firenze, 2011.
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