Palazzo Vecchio: Secret Passages - Guided tour in Japanese

Rooms exist inside Palazzo Vecchio where time seems to stand still and where it is easy for visitors to experience emotions from the past. Since the year 2000 the Museum has restored these environments for public use and they can now be visited by small groups - a maximum of 12 - accompanied by expert guides. The Stairway of the Duke of Athens, the Studiolo of Francesco I, the Tesoretto of Cosimo I, and the trusses of the ceiling of the Salone dei Cinquecento can now all be visited. Despite differing greatly one from the other, they allow a previously inaccessible and now far more penetrating glimpse of Palazzo Vecchio. The stairway - commissioned by Gualtieri di Brienne between 1342 and 1343 - was built into the depths of the walls and finishes in a tiny door opening onto Via Ninna, the Tesoretto and the Studiolo, located one on top of the other next to the Salone dei Cinquecento, emanate the refined and cultured atmosphere of the Italian renaissance courts, as they represent one of the most important manifestations of the Princes’ passion for collecting. The double rows of Vasarian trusses which hold up the ceiling of the Salone dei Cinquecento and also support the imposing gilded lacunars of this hall, are a perfect expression of the numerous dialogues between art and science, typical of the era of Humanism and the Renaissance.

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