Why are the ground floors windows of northern Italian palazzi often barred up?
Upvote:4
The prominent families in Renaissance Florence, the Pazzi, the Strozzi, and most notably were bankers. Don't think of them like the manager of your local bank: these guys played hardball. The Pazzi Conspiracy was a bit more violent than usual, but it will give you an idea of why the bars were there.
Upvote:9
If I may: I am Italian and live in northern Italy. It seems to me that most houses here have bars on their ground floor windows. I live in a small village and my house has bars on the ground floor windows (my house, too, like so many other houses, is centuries old). It's just like that, windows come with bars. Of course, not all houses have bars, but rich people would expect to have bars on their windows: not having bars on your windows (often very elaborate and decorative) was like not having chimneys or paved floors. I think the main reason given to have barred windows is to keep thieves out.
Upvote:22
So what where these barred windows protecting against? Theft / burglary? Angry mobs with pitchforks? Feuds/wars with rival families?
Yes.
A little more seriously, in the case of the specific example you give, we can find a web site mentioning the rusticated architecture on the floor in question, and the bars as well (emphasis mine).
The 'rustication' effect is meant to be both imposing yet elegant. 'Imposing' to show the importance of the family, 'elegant' to remain consistent to Renaissance sensibilities of beauty.
On the lower level, there is a heavy, rough look with coarse stones sticking out. The windows have bars to keep people out in the event of insurrection.
So the design was meant to appear imposing, and the combination of the rusticated architecture and heavy bars certainly achieves that effect.
The history of the city of Florence could be summed up as turbulent during this period, with the Medici's being in and out of control of the city several times. The barred windows were installed sometime after the Medici's were driven out of the city in 1494 as a way of better securing the structure.
Part of the original design of the building had an open loggia on the buildings southern corner, and this was filled in with the 'kneeling windows' we see today sometime between 1519 and 1525, designed by the Medici's friend Michelangelo.
According to the book The Medici vol 1, the bars were originally a different pattern than what we see today:
The arches of this loggia were afterwards filled in by Michelangelo who here first invented the particular pattern of curved barred windows often seen in Florence which he called inginocchiate kneeling though these have since been changed for the more ordinary pattern The iron rings seen along the lower storey were for holding banners and torches and for tying up horses And the stone seats were for retainers who might have to wait outside and as a convenience to the people generally
We can see a sketch of the design by Michelangelo here, and an article discussing dating issues concerning the construction time can be read here
So in this particular case we can see insurrection was likely the incentive to strengthen the fortification of the structure.
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