Orsanmichele began as a grain loggia completed in 1290, probably directed by Arnolfo di Cambio. A fire destroyed it in 1304, and the city council decided to rebuild it on September 25, 1336. Orcagna was capomaestro from 1355 to 1359 and built the marble tabernacle, completed in 1359. The loggia was walled up in 1367 and became a guild church from 1380 to 1404.
The building is mainly Gothic. Its base is 106 by 72 feet (32.4 by 22.1 m) and it is 131 feet (40 m) tall, with three floors and fourteen exterior niches. Guild statues made from 1399 to 1428 stand in the niches, by artists including Donatello, Nanni di Banco and Lorenzo Ghiberti. Bronze cost up to ten times as much as marble.
The oratory reopened in January 2024 after restoration, and the museum on the upper floor reopened in 2006. The article gives no ticket prices or hours.
Comments