Palazzo della Signoria
The Palazzo della Signoria (English: Palace of your lordship), also known as the Palazzo Vecchio (English: Old Palace) was a building in central Florence, and the center of governmental power during the Italian Renaissance.
Atop the building stood a noticeably off-center clocktower, which also served as a holding cell. The square in front of the building served as a marketplace and a site for executions.
History
Renaissance
The building was designed by the Tuscan architect Arnolfo di Cambio for the Lords of Florence in 1299.[1] The Signoria was made up of nine members (or Priori) selected by the city's guilds, two from each district, and a Gonfalonier of Justice. Members were supposed to be chosen by lot, but once the Medici family took power, it was only their friends who were favored.[2]
In 1476, the execution of Giovanni Auditore and two of his sons, Federico and Petruccio, was held at the Palazzo della Signoria. The three had been imprisoned in the tower the night before. Although Ezio Auditore da Firenze tried to attack Uberto Alberti, the man who had betrayed his family and ordered their execution, he was disarmed by a brute and forced to flee.[3]
Later, during the Pazzi Conspiracy, Ezio pursued and assassinated Francesco de' Pazzi on the roof of the Palazzo, before allowing those loyal to the ruling Medici family to hang him from the battlements. Jacopo de' Pazzi had attempted to rally the Florentine citizens in the square below, but fled the city after seeing Francesco's body.[3]
In 1498, the Palazzo served as the execution site of the infamous priest, Girolamo Savonarola, by an angry mob of Florentines. However, to spare the monk the feeling of being burned at the stake, Ezio intervened and killed the monk with his hidden blade.[3]
Around 1506, a weapon-smith serves for Cesare Borgia was failed to murder his former master, and he was about to be hanged. Niccolò Machiavelli sent Lo Sparviero to rescue Demetrio il Silente.[4] The Assassin bribe some corrupt Medici soldiers to leave the area. He killed a soldier who held Demetrio and take him to safety.[5][4]
Later, in 1524, Ezio took the Chinese Assassin Shao Jun to see the Palazzo during a trip into the city. By then, the gallows had been removed and the square was now a place of lively celebration and dancing.[6]
Modern times
In 2016, the Palazzo was used to as a simulated location by Abstergo Entertainment for their Identity Project. Like most of the simulated locations in the Project, the Palazzo had two aesthetic variations, and as such, could be utilized during daytime and nighttime.[7]
Behind the Scenes
- Historically, many of the people involved in the Pazzi Conspiracy were hanged from the Palazzo. In-game, only Francesco was shown to be hanged.
- Ezio was unable to climb up to the pinnacle of the tower.
- Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa is depicted on display in the palazzo anachronistically though historically it wasn't unveiled until 1554.
Gallery
-
Database image of the Palazzo della Signoria in Assassin's Creed: Identity -
Concept art of the Palazzo della Signoria in Assassin's Creed: Identity -
Concept art of the Palazzo della Signoria in Assassin's Creed: Identity
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed II (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Embers
- Assassin's Creed: Identity
References
- ↑ Assassin's Creed II – Database: Palazzo Della Signoria
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Identity – Database: Palazzo Della Signoria
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Assassin's Creed II
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Assassin's Creed: Identity – Niccolò Machiavelli's journal#5
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Identity – Broken Chains
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Embers
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Identity – Contracts
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||