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Festivals and Feasts in Florence During the 17th century

The spectacles, arrays and feasts held during the seventeenth century were further expressions of that taste for luxury among the last members of the Medici dynasty that was realized in the precious cladding of the chapel of the Princes. The economic recovery launched by the Lorraine included the abolition of many feasts and tournaments.

The city and the Arno River became the setting for grand ducal festivals conceived primarily along the lines of Buontalenti-type inventions, by Lodovico Cigoli, Giuho Parigi and his helpers, Ferdinando Tacca and Anton Maria Ferri. In the early eighteenth century the city affirmed its typical image along the route of Via Larga, Via Tornabuoni and Via Maggio, where many adjacent houses purchased by single families were converted into palaces. It is significant that in 1608 this route, that started at Porta San Gallo - and not the one that began at Porta al Prato, traditionally used in sixteenth century processions - was proposed for the cortège to celebrate the entrance of Cosimo II and his new bride Maria Magdalena of Austria into Florence.

The difficulties encountered in demolishing the bulwarks at Porta San Gallo made it necessary for the procession, that took place between October and November 1608, to enter from Porta al Prato just the same. For the occasion, the statues of the four seasons by Pietro Francavilla, Giovanni Caccini and Taddeo Landini, were placed at the ends of the Ponte Santa Trinita, as were the two inlaid "needles" by Seravezza set in Piazza Santa Maria Novella where the traditional "palio dei Cocchi" race was held.

The route from Via Larga to Via Maggio became the theater for grand ducal festivals and tournaments, so much so that in the eighteenth century it was called the "Via dei Trionfi" (Street of Triumphs). In 1661, for the wedding Cosimo III and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, a procession of coaches entered the city from the Porta San Gallo where Gherardo and Pier Farncesco Silvani built a temporary monumental entrance; the procession went down Via Larga to the Cathedral, crossed the Ponte Santa Trinita, and continued along Via Maggio to the Pitti Palace. The festivities continued with performances in the Boboli Gardens' amphitheater and in the Teatro della Pergola, with settings also designed by Tacca.

In 1739 when Francis Stephen of Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife, Maria Theresa entered the city on 20 January, the procession followed the 1661 route, entering from Porta San Gallo, in front of which Jadot built a triumphal arch, and reached the Pitti Palace winding its way along streets with illuminated houses and banners at the windows. This was the last of the triumphal processions. The festivals organized by Peter Leopold were often less noble. On 7 April 1799 French troops entered Florence, via Jadot's triumphal arch and put an end to the Lorraine period.

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