Florence - The Cathedral Square and the surrounding buildings
La
Loggia del Bigallo - Piazza San Giovanni 6
The Bigallo loggia was built in the 14th century on demand of the fraternal order of Santa Maria della Misericordia. It was realized in order to help old people, sicks and orphans. The last ones, while waiting for their foster parents, were lodged on the upper floor of the Loggia. Moving sick people to the hospital and burying deads in times of plague were two of the main tasks of the fraternal order. Today inside the Bigallo loggia we find a museum collecting many important works of art belonged to the two fraternal orders: the Misericordia and the Bigallo ones. Very interesting are two frescos situated in the last room of the Bigallo loggia: the one, painted by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, represents the Madonna of the Misericordia while devolving orphans upon their new mothers and the other, painted by Bernardo Daddi, is important for its remarkable view of Florence at the feet of the Virgin, a view in which we can see the uncomplete facade of the Cathedral that is generally considered as the first representation of the city.
