The city of Florence is famous worldwide for its artworks and for the great names that made history in art, literature, sculpture, and architecture.
Everyone knows about the skills of Brunelleschi, the verses of Dante, the great foresight of the Medici, masters of Florence, while few know the faces and stories of the women who contributed to making this city unique over the centuries.
Artists, noblewomen, nuns, scientists, and writers who left their mark, starting a small cultural revolution and inspiring future generations.
Caterina de’ Medici
Caterina de’ Medici was one of these extraordinary women: she became queen consort of France and then regent, sometimes described as a determined, cold, and vindictive woman and sometimes as conciliatory, innovative, and wise advisor to the king. Of her controversial figure, objects and personal effects remain preserved at Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi Gallery: among these, a precious crystal box donated by the Pope for the wedding, a carvedcup with a gold lid adorned with monograms, the tapestries of the Valois Festivals, and the portraits of Caterina, Henri II, and their children.
Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici
But that is not all, there is another noblewoman from the Medici family to whom Florence still owes a lot: Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, the last heiress of the family, who left a vast cultural heritage. It was she who prevented the Habsburg-Lorraine family not to take away any relic or artwork from the city, binding them with a contract. To learn more about this woman, one must visit the Medici Chapels where her crypt is located.
Artemisia Gentileschi
In the Uffizi Gallery, there is another noteworthy artwork, a symbol of the fight against patriarchy: the painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, a talented Florentine artist, representing a powerful and brave Judith brutally beheading Holofernes. The artwork, very striking and raw, symbolizes the difficult choice of a talented and eager woman trying to emerge in a world dominated by men, a choice that led her to be the first woman admitted to the Academy of Arts and Design of Florence. But Artemisia was not the only woman to distinguish herself for her artistic skills. In the Renaissance era, the very young Dominican nun Polissena de’ Nelli, known as Plautilla, tried her hand as a self-taught painter, without experience in artistic workshops or anatomical drawing lessons (forbidden to women at the time). Her greatest artwork was The Last Supper, a unique, large-scale painting with life-size characters, restored and now exhibited in the Museum of Santa Maria Novella.
The talent of a woman in the service of sacred art, a strange concept for the society of the time, but not for the Etruscan civilization, where it was the exact opposite: art was in the service of Mater Matuta, a deity revered as a propitious mother and goddess of fertility to whom festivals and honors were dedicated.
An example of this tradition can be found at the Archaeological Museum of Florence, where they preserve a beautiful cinerary sculpture of Mater Matuta coming from the area of Chiusi-Chianciano Terme and dating back to the Etruscan art of the 5th century BC.
The historical artifacts that were handed down speak of respect for the female figure, a symbol of birth and life for ancient peoples.
Where to stay in downtown Florence
To learn more about all these important female figures and their stories, you can embark on an exciting journey that starts from the center of Florence and branches out into the city’s historical buildings: an adventure worth starting from a strategic point, by staying at the FH55 Grand Hotel Mediterraneo where relaxation, comfort, and the flavors of the Tuscan tradition are at home.