Palazzo Vecchio: Tales for the Little Ones

Discover the stories and legends of Palazzo Vecchio with the Children's Museum! Here, the children are welcomed into Bia and Garcia's Storytelling Room, where they will hear and see stories told by actors in period clothing. Through the stories, the little ones will discover the architecture and art of the palace in an imaginative, interactive, and lively way.

Our Tales:

The Robbery in Duke Francesco's Study

Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici, son of Cosimo, studied the mysteries of Nature keenly, carrying out experiments in his laboratories and collecting art objects and rarities. These were true marvels – the result of the marriage of Nature and Art – and he kept them in his “Studiolo”, a small, cozy, yet elegant studio entirely decorated with frescoes, paintings, and sculptures.


The story of the robbery in Duke Francesco’s Studiolo is inspired by a real event and is told to the young children in two parts: the first consists of two small mice telling the story in a shadow puppet show, during the second part the children visit the study itself. 



The Story of the Turtle and the Sail



The Tale of the Turtle and the Sail is suitable for very young children, from 3 to 7 years old. It is divided into two parts: the first part takes place in the puppet theatre in Bia and Garcia’s Storytelling Room. Here, a performer introduces a video cartoon telling the story of the encounter between an old turtle and Cosimo I de' Medici as a child. The story begins in the Mugello district of Tuscany, against the backdrop of the Medici villas at Trebbio and Cafaggiolo, when a small turtle is saved from certain death on the road by a boy named Cosimo…


Cosimo later chose the turtle as his symbol (the so-called impresa, his personal emblem). In fact many of the various coats of arms inside the Palazzo Vecchio show a turtle with a sail swelled by the wind on its shell, accompanied by the Latin motto festina lente, which means “make haste slowly.”

During the second part of the activity, the children are taken to various rooms in the Palazzo Vecchio on a “turtle with a sail-hunt”. Given that it was the symbol of Cosimo I, the image appears all over the floors, walls, and ceilings of his Palace. 



The First Journey around the World

This activity was created for children aged 4 to 8 years to introduce them to the Hall of Maps of Cosimo I de' Medici in the Palazzo Vecchio.

During the first part of this activity the children attend a shadow puppet show and meet the two mice who live in the Palazzo Vecchio:


Grandfather Godfrey mouse (with long whiskers) tells his nephew the story of the voyage of Magellan, who was the first to journey around the world. And suddenly, everything comes to life in rough seas with strange sea monsters... Thanks to the magic of the Shadow Theater and a trunk full of exotic objects and smells of unknown lands, the story unfolds in the dialogue between the flagship of the fleet, the Trinidad, and the small canoe of natives from the Pacific Islands. At the end of the story, in the Hall of Maps, the children will find the natural passage between the two seas: the Strait of Magellan.



The Perfumed Tale of Painted Nature



Inside the Palazzo Vecchio nature is strongly present with colorful painted images, collected by Cosimo I de' Medici and his wife Eleonora of Toledo. The couple had such a love for the land, hunting, fishing, horses, and gardens, that they created roof gardens and little vegetable gardens inside the ducal Palace, asking the court artists to include many natural elements in their lavish decorations.
 Even though the roof gardens and orchards of the Palazzo Vecchio no longer exist, you'll find a large population of animals and plants on walls and ceilings of the palace...

In The Perfumed Tale of Painted Nature, the children get a chance to explore this world, told by a sort of elf and a colorful parrot, native of the New World.



Through words, through their eyes, and, more importantly, through the magic of perfumes, the children will give life to the creations on the walls of the Palazzo. They’ll imagine the Duchess Eleonora, immersed in the scent of roses and citrus in one of her hanging gardens created on the terraces of the Palazzo Vecchio, or discover the smells of the ancient fruits paintings, such as the pomegranate...



Little Animal Stories



Everyone knows that animals are part of life on Earth everywhere, many are aware of endangered species, some are fighting to safeguard their dignity and many of us have pets at home. There are also flourishing markets for toys, books, films, video games, television programs, and comics with animals as their main protagonists.



But how many of us know that, just like people, animals have many stories to tell – inextricably linked to those of humans, and often determined by these?

Since January 2011, the animals depicted in the decorations of the Palazzo Vecchio have begun to tell these stories! Two short stories are new each year, one for the new year, the other at Easter. But we can't tell which animals will be starring, because the younger visitors will need to find out through various sensory cues – hearing the surprise story, then listening, looking, touching, and even smelling (a little) to find the clue!

Tickets:

• Full price ticket
• Reduced price ticket: people between 18 and 25 years old.
• Free ticket: children under 18 years old and Firenze card holders. On an experimental basis throughout 2019, free admission for European Union citizens aged between 18 and 25 years old, on Monday.