The Davanzati is such an interesting place. The first time I went to Florence (c. 2000), only the lobby was open and I had to take pictures of the pictures they had up discussing the renovation. 3 years ago, I was finally able to go back and see the whole thing, and it was as wonderful as I'd hoped. I think the saddest part, though, is that so much of the original furniture was sold to the Hearsts and others in the 1920s; it would have been lovely to see more of those furnishings. Thank you for the tour!
So glad you enjoyed another walk through this stunning home, especially have you have "seen" it in various stages of restoration. And I agree about the furniture situation - so sad! A lot of it has ultimately ended up in the Met's collection in storage (bequeathed by the Hearsts and others). If I could suggest one change to them, it would be to display the post-Renaissance tools and furnishings in a different museum and to try to get more era-appropriate items (preferrably pre-1500) from other institutions on semi-permanent loan. Ah well.
I am very pleased to hear that - that was definitely one of my goals, to help people deepen their medievalist experience! Have you also seen my video on getting dressed in the 1480s? Focused more on Florence, but the layers are still the same.
@@thecreativecontessa Wonderfully done. I have not yet seen the other video. I will look for it. This was my first viewing of your videos I believe. I am so happy that you provide this content.
@@gwynvyd Ah, then a very warm welcome to my esoteric channel of historic and multicultural creativity and exploration! I hope you enjoy tripping through the range of topics my fancy has decided to cover. Here is the video on getting dressed in the 1480s, for when you have the time inclination: ua-cam.com/video/glL7gy7CQvU/v-deo.html
Thank you so much for the compliment and for watching! Very pleased that you enjoyed the tour. As for Kitty Zen, that is a feature at the end of all of my videos provided as a little treat for servants of feline overlords. 😅
At about 10 minutes into the video, why is Benozzo Gozzoli's Journey of the Magi's East Wall fresco shown? That is in the Chapel of the Magi at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, a totally different palazzo.
At that spot, I use Gozzoli's painting to illustrate and visualize the narrated information at that point in the video, in which I am talking about a massive household of dependents and servants being needed to operate the Palazzo Davanzati (as you know that fresco depicts many of the family members, servants, clients, and other dependents of the Medici). The same way that the image from Tacuinum Sanitatis is used to illustrate working in a medieval kitchen even though that illumination does not depict the kitchen in the Palazzo Davanzati either.
When I was there in 2018, that collection of lace was on display as well, but not this time. I think because of covid restrictions, they limited the spaces that were open for visiting.
I remember Jan Slomka complaining about what he called “smoke cottages” without proper chimneys even in the 19th century. There were no beds and everybody slept on the oven/ stove to keep warm (typical practice in Poland and Russia I believe).
Indeed, chimneys are a much more recent innovation in many parts of the world than many westerners realize. There are still traditional huts on the island of JeJu in Korea that still just have a hole in the ceiling for the smoke from the cooking fire to escape. And they are literally toxic. The people who do traditional cooking in those buildings are putting themselves at risk for all sorts of pulmonary issues in the long term! It's sort of funny that so many people think of chimneys as being old-fashioned, but really they're one of the more recent architectural Innovations in human history!
That clears out some cobwebs in my noggins on how to build houses in my SL Florence 1499 project, if i ever get it off the ground, especially since the "land allotments" is more generous vertically than horizontally (255X255X2000 meters). Very interesting video for a nerd like me. Brava!
So glad you enjoyed! Note that by 1499, this house would have been rather dated, with homes like the Strozzi and Medici Palazzi being much more en vogue with their generous Renaissance dimensions. I have a whole bunch of footage from these palazzi and will be producing more episodes of "Lifestyles of the Medievally Rich and Famous". :-)
At the underground museum beneath the Sukiennice in Krakow, they excavated the remains of a piped water supply system that was built in the 14th century and lasted until the Swedes destroyed it in the mid-17th century. They also had a scale model of some machine that looked like an Arabic “noria” I think.
Many medieval cities and towns seem to have had piped water supply systems, although not many of the piping actually seems to have gone into private homes. Or rather, it was only certain private homes of certain prominent citizens who were the recipients of such. Similar to the Plumbing of the ancient Roman Empire actually. And probably a system carried over from that in many places. And yeah, the 30 Years War was really such a horrific, traumatizing event on so many levels for pretty much all of europe, east and west! I sometimes wonder how far back those particular three decades set human progress. 😔
@@thecreativecontessa Yeah, everyone else just gets water from the public fountains. I don’t think the 30 Years War reached most of Poland. I was referring to “the Deluge” in I think 1648-1667 when Ukrainian Cossacks, Crimean Tartars, Sweden, and Russia all invaded Poland. That is a period I can geek out about a lot as a fan of the literature of Henryk Sienkiewicz and Nikolai Gogol.
The Davanzati is such an interesting place. The first time I went to Florence (c. 2000), only the lobby was open and I had to take pictures of the pictures they had up discussing the renovation. 3 years ago, I was finally able to go back and see the whole thing, and it was as wonderful as I'd hoped. I think the saddest part, though, is that so much of the original furniture was sold to the Hearsts and others in the 1920s; it would have been lovely to see more of those furnishings. Thank you for the tour!
So glad you enjoyed another walk through this stunning home, especially have you have "seen" it in various stages of restoration. And I agree about the furniture situation - so sad! A lot of it has ultimately ended up in the Met's collection in storage (bequeathed by the Hearsts and others). If I could suggest one change to them, it would be to display the post-Renaissance tools and furnishings in a different museum and to try to get more era-appropriate items (preferrably pre-1500) from other institutions on semi-permanent loan. Ah well.
Those painted walls are amazing, thank you for the tour!
Thank you for this tour. You are appreciated.
Thank you for the kind comment! So lovely to see how much people are enjoying this one.
Such an interesting tour of a beautiful medieval home. So interesting. Thank you.
Thank you for watching, enjoying and taking the time to comment! 🥰
This was a very cool video! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment! Very glad it was enjoyable!
Thank you so much, this helps me flesh out my 1480's Aragonian living in Venice persona.
I am very pleased to hear that - that was definitely one of my goals, to help people deepen their medievalist experience! Have you also seen my video on getting dressed in the 1480s? Focused more on Florence, but the layers are still the same.
@@thecreativecontessa Wonderfully done. I have not yet seen the other video. I will look for it. This was my first viewing of your videos I believe. I am so happy that you provide this content.
@@gwynvyd Ah, then a very warm welcome to my esoteric channel of historic and multicultural creativity and exploration! I hope you enjoy tripping through the range of topics my fancy has decided to cover. Here is the video on getting dressed in the 1480s, for when you have the time inclination: ua-cam.com/video/glL7gy7CQvU/v-deo.html
It just beautiful and very interesting. Thank you for your wonderful narration! I would love to go to Italy. Cats do provide zen!
Thank you so much for the compliment and for watching! Very pleased that you enjoyed the tour. As for Kitty Zen, that is a feature at the end of all of my videos provided as a little treat for servants of feline overlords. 😅
At about 10 minutes into the video, why is Benozzo Gozzoli's Journey of the Magi's East Wall fresco shown? That is in the Chapel of the Magi at Palazzo Medici Riccardi, a totally different palazzo.
At that spot, I use Gozzoli's painting to illustrate and visualize the narrated information at that point in the video, in which I am talking about a massive household of dependents and servants being needed to operate the Palazzo Davanzati (as you know that fresco depicts many of the family members, servants, clients, and other dependents of the Medici). The same way that the image from Tacuinum Sanitatis is used to illustrate working in a medieval kitchen even though that illumination does not depict the kitchen in the Palazzo Davanzati either.
There was a large collection of of lace works late 2018 on one of the lower levels also.
When I was there in 2018, that collection of lace was on display as well, but not this time. I think because of covid restrictions, they limited the spaces that were open for visiting.
I remember Jan Slomka complaining about what he called “smoke cottages” without proper chimneys even in the 19th century. There were no beds and everybody slept on the oven/ stove to keep warm (typical practice in Poland and Russia I believe).
Indeed, chimneys are a much more recent innovation in many parts of the world than many westerners realize. There are still traditional huts on the island of JeJu in Korea that still just have a hole in the ceiling for the smoke from the cooking fire to escape. And they are literally toxic. The people who do traditional cooking in those buildings are putting themselves at risk for all sorts of pulmonary issues in the long term! It's sort of funny that so many people think of chimneys as being old-fashioned, but really they're one of the more recent architectural Innovations in human history!
That clears out some cobwebs in my noggins on how to build houses in my SL Florence 1499 project, if i ever get it off the ground, especially since the "land allotments" is more generous vertically than horizontally (255X255X2000 meters). Very interesting video for a nerd like me. Brava!
So glad you enjoyed! Note that by 1499, this house would have been rather dated, with homes like the Strozzi and Medici Palazzi being much more en vogue with their generous Renaissance dimensions. I have a whole bunch of footage from these palazzi and will be producing more episodes of "Lifestyles of the Medievally Rich and Famous". :-)
At the underground museum beneath the Sukiennice in Krakow, they excavated the remains of a piped water supply system that was built in the 14th century and lasted until the Swedes destroyed it in the mid-17th century. They also had a scale model of some machine that looked like an Arabic “noria” I think.
Many medieval cities and towns seem to have had piped water supply systems, although not many of the piping actually seems to have gone into private homes. Or rather, it was only certain private homes of certain prominent citizens who were the recipients of such. Similar to the Plumbing of the ancient Roman Empire actually. And probably a system carried over from that in many places. And yeah, the 30 Years War was really such a horrific, traumatizing event on so many levels for pretty much all of europe, east and west! I sometimes wonder how far back those particular three decades set human progress. 😔
@@thecreativecontessa Yeah, everyone else just gets water from the public fountains. I don’t think the 30 Years War reached most of Poland. I was referring to “the Deluge” in I think 1648-1667 when Ukrainian Cossacks, Crimean Tartars, Sweden, and Russia all invaded Poland. That is a period I can geek out about a lot as a fan of the literature of Henryk Sienkiewicz and Nikolai Gogol.
👍 - _also_ for the YT algo! 😊