Florence

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Florence , Ital. Firenze, city (1991 pop. 403,294), capital of Tuscany and of Firenze prov., central Italy, on the Arno River, at the foot of the Apennines. Florence, the jewel of the Italian Renaissance, is one of the world's great historic cities. It is a commercial, industrial, and tourist center and a rail junction. Tourism is the main industry, which is supported by the manufacture of glassware, precious metalware, leatherwork, ceramics, clothing, shoes, and art reproductions. The Univ. of Florence is an international cultural center, and the National Library is in the city. Only one bridge, the Ponte Vecchio (14th cent.), survived World War II, and now several modern bridges span the Arno.

Points of Interest

It is impossible to mention here all of the city's monuments, most of which date from the 13th to 15th cent. The Gothic cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (begun 1296) has a dome (1420–34) by Brunelleschi ; nearby are the slim campanile (269 ft/82 m high) designed by Giotto , and Andrea Pisano and Lorenzo Ghiberti created their famous bronze doors for the baptistery. The large Franciscan Church of Santa Croce is the Florentine pantheon and has frescoes by Giotto, a crucifix by Donatello, and fine works by the Della Robbia family, Rossellino , and others. The Church of Santa Maria Novella (1278–1350) has frescoes by Masaccio, Orcagna, and Ghirlandaio; fine cloisters; and a facade (1470) by Alberti. Some of the best works of Fra Angelico are in the museum of the Monastery of St. Mark. Important frescoes by Masolino, Masaccio, and Filippino Lippi adorn the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. The Church of San Lorenzo contains Michelangelo's tombs of the Medici; many works by Donatello; and the Laurentian Library, which holds approximately 10,000 manuscripts. The oratory of Orsanmichele (originally a wheat granary; rebuilt 1337–1404) has a tabernacle (14th cent.) by Orcagna. On a hill overlooking the city is the Romanesque basilica of San Miniato al Monte.

On the Piazza della Signoria are the Palazzo Vecchio, which contains frescoes by Vasari and sculptures by Michelangelo; the Loggia dei Lanzi (later 14th cent.), which has the Perseus (1533) of Cellini ; and Ammanati's Fountain of Neptune (1576). The Uffizi Museum, housed in a Renaissance palace designed by Vasari, contains great collections of paintings, especially by Botticelli, Masaccio, and Piero della Francesca. The Pitti Palace (15th–17th cent.) also houses fine paintings, particularly by Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, and Titian. Behind the Pitti Palace are the terraced Boboli Gardens (1550), a good example of Italian landscaping architecture. Other important art museums include the Academy, with works by Michelangelo; the gallery in the Bargello palace, with works by Donatello; and the archaeological museum, with Etruscan, Egyptian, and Greco-Roman art. Among the other numerous medieval and Renaissance palaces, the Medici-Riccardi, Strozzi, and Rucellai deserve special mention.

History

Florence was the site of an Etruscan settlement and later became a Roman town on the Cassian Way (the modern Piazza della Republica is on the site of the Roman Forum). In the 5th and 6th cent. AD the city was controlled, in turn, by the Goths, Byzantines, and Lombards. It became an autonomous commune in the 12th cent.

In the 13th cent. the Guelphs (who were propapal) and the Ghibellines (who were proimperial) fought for control of the city. By the end of the 13th cent. the Guelphs held control, but they then split into warring factions, the Blacks and the Whites, best remembered because Dante, a Florentine, was banished (1302) as a White Guelph. Warfare raged, too, with other cities, notably Pisa, as the merchants and bankers of Florence made their own fortunes and that of the city; the sale of Florentine silks, tapestries, and jewelry brought great wealth. Florence grew as a result of war, absorbing Arezzo, Pistoia, Volterra, and Pisa. Growth was temporarily halted in 1348, when the Black Death killed approximately 60% of the city's population.

Florence became a city-state and in the 15th cent. came under the control of Cosimo de' Medici, a wealthy merchant and patron of the arts. Although republican forms were kept until the 16th cent., the Medici family ruled, and Lorenzo de' Medici, who held power from 1469 to 1492, was able to put down the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), instigated by Pope Sixtus IV.

Under Lorenzo and his successors, Florence was for two centuries the golden city, with an incredible flowering of intellectual and artistic life. The list of artists working in the city was headed by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Donatello. There were also numerous poets and scholars active in Florence, and the Accademia della Crusca was established (1582). A school of music flourished in the city during the Renaissance, and the earliest operas, Peri's Dafne (1594) and Euridice (1600), were performed there.

Political life continued to be turbulent. The Medici were expelled by a revolution in 1494, the fiery religious reformer Savonarola briefly held power (1494–98), and Machiavelli was a diplomatic representative of the republic. The revolt against the Medici was over by 1512, but another revolution (1527–30) established a new republic, which, however, was forced to surrender to Emperor Charles V after a heroic defense.

Under the restored Medici, Florence went on expanding and controlled most of Tuscany. In 1569, Cosimo I de' Medici was made grand duke, and Florence became the capital of the grand duchy of Tuscany . The grand duchy, ruled by the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine after the extinction (1737) of the Medici line, was annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia in 1860. Florence was the capital of the newly founded kingdom of Italy from 1865 to 1871. Relatively few of the art treasures of Florence were harmed in World War II; the flooding of the Arno in Nov., 1966, however, caused extensive damage, which art experts sought, with considerable success, to repair.

Florence. It. city, capital of Tuscany, of great beauty and cultural significance. Sacred mus. flourished there from 14th cent. and reached a high-point in 16th cent. under patronage of Medici family. At the same periods a tradition of secular mus. in the form of madrigals and Ballate developed. Florence is also regarded as the birthplace of opera, which emerged as an offshoot of the court th. fests. held at the celebration of Medici weddings together with the interest of Florentine intellectuals, musicians, and poets in ancient Greek musical and dramatic theories. In particular, the informed meetings held at the homes of Giovanni de’ Bardi and Jacopo Corsi resulted in the composition of musical dramas by Peri, Caccini, and Cavalieri. First opera is generally believed to have been Peri's Dafne (1594–8), perf. in several versions before 1604, followed by his Euridice (1600). Pastorals by Monteverdi and Gagliano were perf. in Florence soon after their premières in Mantua.

A rich period occurred at the end of the 17th cent. under Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici (1663–1713). It was in his court that Cristofori built the first piano. The prince himself directed operas in the Villa di Pratolino, held nightly chamber concerts, and patronized church mus. During the 18th cent., Neapolitan and Venetian composers tended to dominate the Florentine musical scene. Its internationalization can be attrib. to the extinction of the Medicis in 1737 and their succession by the aristocratic families Habsburg and Lorraine. During the 19th cent., Florence was a centre of symphonic and chamber mus. rather than opera. A pf. factory with Viennese craftsmen was opened in 1828 and a Philharmonic Soc., the first in It., was founded in 1830. Beethoven's symphonies were better known in Florence than in the rest of It. Even so, opera—chiefly at the Teatro della Pergola—was not neglected. First perfs. were given of Donizetti's Parisina (1833) and Verdi's Macbeth (1847) and f. It. ps. of Weber's Der Freischütz (1843) and Meyerbeer's Dinorah (1867). The city's mus. life declined after 1870 until its revival in c.1913 by Bastianelli and Pizzetti, who were based in Florence as both critics and musicians. They concentrated on contemporary mus. On the occasion in 1923 when Casella cond. Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire, Puccini met Schoenberg. In 1928 Vittorio Gui founded and cond. one of It.'s first permanent orchs., the Orchestrale Fiorentina, and in 1933 Guido M. Gatti instituted the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, a fest. held annually in May and June. It soon became internationally renowned for adventurous opera prods. and excellent concerts. Gui's orch. was re-named Orchestra del Maggio and has been cond. by Walter, Furtwängler, de Sabata, Mitropoulos, and Bruno Bartoletti. Directors of the fest. incl. Mario Labroca (1937–44), Francesco Siciliani (1950–6), and Riccardo Muti (1969–81). Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex had its It. première at the Maggio Musicale in 1937. Operatic f.ps. incl. Dallapiccola's Volo di notte (1940), Prokofiev's War and Peace (1953), Pezzati's Il sognatore (1982), and Bussotti's L'ispirazione (1988).

Florence1 City (1990 pop. 36,426), seat of Lauderdale co., NW Ala., on the Tennessee River near Muscle Shoals and adjacent to Wilson Dam (a national historic landmark); inc. 1818. It is in a cotton and mineral area yielding coal, iron, bauxite, and asphalt. Power from the Wilson Dam and state dock installations have stimulated the growth of diversified industries. The mountain lakes in the area attract many tourists. The Univ. of North Alabama is in the city. Of interest are Pope's Tavern (1811), once a stagecoach stop and later a Civil War hospital, and a Native American mound, with a museum.

2 City (1990 pop. 29,813), seat of Florence co., NE S.C., in a farm and timber area; inc. 1871. The city is an important focal point for railroads (with extensive repair shops and yards) and developed as an industrial and trade distribution center. Florence manufactures a wide variety of goods, and tobacco and cotton are grown. During the Civil War it was a transportation and supply point and served as the site of a prison camp. It is the seat of Francis Marion College and a branch of the Univ. of South Carolina. An experimental station affiliated with Clemson Univ. and a U.S. agricultural laboratory are also there. Florence has museums, and nearby is a national Civil War cemetery.

Florence (Firenze) Capital of Tuscany and Firenze province, on the River Arno, Italy. Initially an Etruscan town, it was a Roman colony from the 1st century bc to 5th century ad. In the 12th century, it became an independent commune and major trading centre. The site of many factional power struggles, especially the 13th-century war between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, it nevertheless became the cultural and intellectual centre of Italy. Florence's period of dominance coincided with the rule of the Medici family. It became a city-state and a leading centre of the Renaissance. Artists who contributed to the flourishing city included Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Donatello. In 1569 Florence became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Opera developed here in the late 16th century. From 1865 to 1871, it was the capital of the kingdom of Italy. Its many notable churches include: the Duomo gothic cathedral (1296); San Lorenzo, Florence's first cathedral rebuilt in 1425 by Brunelleschi, including a New Sacristy built by Michelangelo; and the monastery San Marco which holds masterpieces by Fra Angelico. Major art collections include the Uffizi and the Bargello Palace. Industries: tourism, craft, fashion. Pop. (2000) 374,501.

Florence, Canada, Italy, USA 1. Italy (Tuscany): locally Firenze ‘Flowering City’ or ‘City of Flowers’ from the Old Italian fiorenza, itself from the Latin florere ‘to blossom’, perhaps because the city was built on a flowery meadow. Founded in 59 bc as a Roman military garrison, its Latin name Florentia meant ‘The Flourishing Town’. A republic during the 15th century, it was the capital of Italy 1865–71. The ‘Flo’ of Florentia evolved through ‘Fio’ to ‘Fi’.2. USA (Alabama): founded in 1818 and named after the Florence in Italy by its Italian planner, Ferdinand Sanona.3. USA (Arizona): founded in 1866 and named after the sister of Governor Richard McCormick.4. USA (South Carolina): originally founded in the 1850s as Wilds, it was renamed in about 1859 after the daughter of General William Harlee, a senior railroad official.

Florence ♀, formerly also ♂ Medieval form of the Latin masculine name Florentius (a derivative of florens ‘blossoming, flourishing’) and its feminine form Florentia. In the Middle Ages the name was commonly borne by men (as, for example, the historian Florence of Worcester), but it is now exclusively a girl's name. This was revived in the second half of the 19th century, being given in honour of Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the founder of modern nursing, who organized a group of nurses to serve in the Crimean War. She herself received the name because she was born in the Italian city of Florence (Latin Florentia, Italian Firenze).

Variant: Florance.
Short forms: Flo, Floss.
Pet forms: Florrie, Flossie.

Florence ♀ (French) From Latin.

Masculine form Florent.

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