About
In a Medici storage chamber, more than 50 magnificent hand-painted Renaissance maps are shown.
Giorgio Vasari had a vision for the Palazzo Vecchio (formerly the Palazzo della Signoria), which he was undertaking to restore. His plan was to adorn a new chamber, the Guardaroba Nuevo or "new storeroom," with maps of Italy and the known world, portraits of notable figures from the era, and illustrations of plants and animals from distant lands. He also proposed two giant globes - one representing the earth, the other depicting the heavens - that could be lowered down from the ceiling onto perfectly crafted pedestals meant to spin on the slightest touch. Although this grand new room would not be an entry hall, office, or grand assembly room like many others in this great house, it was still set apart as a special place created to store Medici family treasures.
