Palazzo Vecchio

This guide to the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence opens on January 6, 1537, when Duke Alessandro de' Medici slips out for what he thinks is a lover's rendezvous arranged by his own cousin Lorenzino. It follows what Lorenzino actually brought instead, the seventeen-year-old Cosimo who unexpectedly inherited the dukedom from a minor branch of the family, and the decision Cosimo made three years later to move his entire court into this blunt, fortified building. Notice the copy of Michelangelo's David standing guard at the entrance as you listen.