History
At the height of the industry the Arte della Lana directly employed 30.000 workers and indirectly about a third of Florence's population, and produced 100,000 lengths of cloth annually. The Arte della Lana saw all the processes from the raw baled wool through the final cloth, woven at numerous looms scattered in domiciles throughout the city. Like other guilds, the Arte served only to coordinate the activities of its own members, who did not generally own the means of production or directly manage the processes. Its syndics ensured that quality standards were met and contracts were honored. [2]
The predecessor and, until the mid-14th century the rival of the Arte della Lana, was the powerful Arte di Calimala, a corporation of importers of raw cloth, who dyed and finished it.
The guildhall, the Palazzo dell’ Arte della Lana, was completed in 1308, with an attached fortifiable tower-house. From its interior, where some 14th-century frescoes remain, a gallery designed by Bernardo Buontalenti links the palazzo with the church of Orsanmichele. The palazzo is now the seat of the Società Dantesca. The guild of wool was also located in Florence Italy and were the people that inquired Michelangelo to take on sculpting the statue of David
The Palazzo
The original building intended as the residence of the Arte della Lana was erected in 1308, as attested by two Latin inscriptions on the fronts of the current building, incorporating an older tower of the Compiobbesi family, partly burnt down in 1284, after the expulsion of the family since they were Ghibellines. In the following centuries, further rooms were built to expand the headquarters, due to the considerable public activity of the Arte.
To allow easier access to the upper floors of the church of Orsanmichele, intended to house the new General Archive of private contracts and wills, Cosimo I de' Medici decreed in 1569 the construction of a staircase with access from via Calimala which, following the side of the residence with a further leaning body, determined an aerial connection between the two buildings on via dell'Arte della Lana. The project was realized by Bernardo Buontalenti.
After the suppression of the guild in 1770, the building was already transformed into a tenement, and became a rectory of the church of Orsanmichele from 1772 on.
Purchased in 1890 by the Municipality of Florence, it escaped the demolitions of the Renovation despite being deeply compromised, and was sold in 1903 to the Dante Alighieri Society for public readings as an illustration of the Divine Comedy . This promoted a complex restoration and reconstruction of the property, now isolated following the rehabilitation of the Mercato Vecchio area (1885-1895), in order to transform the ancient Compiobbesi tower into an architecture adhering to the idea that one had then of fourteenth-century Florence. Having examined various projects (among which the one in numerous and beautiful tables by the architect Cesare Spighi is kept in the Historical Archive of the Municipality) the works were then implemented in 1905 by the architect Enrico Lusini, who in any case had the merit (compared to other hypothesis) of leaving the door designed by Bernardo Buontalenti to the right of the main front of the building, albeit demolishing the sixteenth-century staircase and building a new one on the other side of the building, as well as giving "gloss and dignity to a building which previously was only called the keep".
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Four Crowned Martyrs is a sculptural group by Nanni di Banco. It forms part of a cycle of fourteen sculptures commissioned by the guilds of Florence for external niches of Orsanmichele, each sculpture showing that guild's patron saint. This sculpture was commissioned by the Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname and completed around 1416-1417. It is in Apuan marble and is made of four figures of the Four Crowned Martyrs, the tallest of which is 2.03 m high. It is now indoors in the Museo di Orsanmichele, although a copy fills its original niche.
Saint John the Evangelist is a 2.66 m high bronze statue of John the Evangelist by Baccio da Montelupo, completed in 1515. It was commissioned by the Arte della Seta as part of a cycle of fourteen sculptures for the external niches of Orsanmichele, each showing the patron saint of one of the guilds of Florence. It is now in the Museo di Orsanmichele, although a replica fills its original niche.
Saint Stephen is a 2.6 m high bronze statue of saint Stephen by Lorenzo Ghiberti, completed for the Arte della Lana guild in 1427–28. It is now in the Museo di Orsanmichele, although a replica fills its original niche on the exterior of Orsanmichele, where it was one of a cycle of fourteen sculptures, each showing the patron saint of one of the guilds of Florence.
Saint Peter is a Apuan marble sculpture of Saint Peter of 2.43 m high. It is attributed to Filippo Brunelleschi and his style is influenced by Donatello. It forms part of a cycle of fourteen statues of the patron saints of the guilds of Florence for the external niches of Orsanmichele. The sculpture of St Peter was completed for the Arte dei Beccai (butchers) guild around 1412 and is now in the Museo di Orsanmichele, although a replica fills its original niche.
Saint Louis of Toulouse is a gilded bronze sculpture of Louis of Toulouse by Donatello with a marble niche all'antica on the facade of Orsanmichele, executed in 1423–1425. It is now in the refectory of the Museo di Santa Croce in Florence.
