One day way back in 1245, San Pietro Martire was, as usual, preaching against heretics. A large crowd was ther to listen to him in Piazza della Repubblica (at that time Piazza del Mercato Vecchio). All of a sudden, a big black horse -which to everybody seemed to resemble the devil- appeared and frightened all the people who were listening in silence to the friar’s words. The horse took off at a crazed gallop, knocking down everything it found in its path. The crowd initially fled in different directions in order not to be trampled. Seeing the danger, San Pietro Martire raised his arm and made the sign of the cross in the direction of the crazed horse which suddenly halted. As the crowd gradually recovered from the scare and moved back in towards the friar, they suddenly realized that the black horse had completely disappeared. Several centuries later, Bernardo Vecchietti commissioned Giambologna to sculpt a bronze in memory of this event, erected at the corner of his own palazzo (Via Vecchietti – Via Strozzi) right in the same spot where the black horse had miraculously stopped and vanished without a trace. This episode has been immortalized in a recently restored fourteenth-century fresco and now held in the Loggia del Bigallo in Piazza Duomo, almost directly in front of the entrance to the Baptistery. In the photo of the fresco you can see San Pietro Martire as he blesses the crowd. At his feet the Florentines listening to him, while at the top, you can see the black horse in full gallop. Have you find it in Via Vecchietti? So many curiosities in Florence! We love Florence, share the love!
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 15:00:00 +0000
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