The Foundling Hospital of Florence

 Annamaria on Monday

Officially called Ospedale degli Innocenti (Hospital of the Innocents), this place merits attention if only for the structure itself. Designed by no less than Brunelleschi, it was one of his first masterworks and set the tone for the other marvelous examples of Renaissance architecture that grace this storied city.  What moves me most about this building is the work people did there for over four hundred years, and still do - in modern guises.

It was built at a point in Florence's history when the city was very prosperous, and the guilds competed with one another in doing good works for the populace. It was the Silk Guild that commissioned the building of a place that would care for unwanted babies. That effort lasted from the day the first child was taken in on 5 February 1445, until the effort was shut down in 1875.

Brunelleschi's original vision adhered completely to the strict simplicity of early Renaissance style, based on Classical Roman architecture. Here is a digital rendering of what is thought to have been his first vision:

That design was faithfully followed for the first eight years of construction - 1419-1427, but it wasn’t long at all before others got fancy with the structure.  The capitals of the columns are not the typical Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian, but an order called Composite. 

In 1439 an attic story was added to building.  Then, in 1485, Andrea Della Robbia's marvelous terracotta tondi went into the roundels. Some critics say that Brunelleschi would have hated all this messing around with his vision.  With apologies, not 100% sincere, to Brunelleschi, those babies on the façade are the thing that at first most attracted me about the building.

Here is how the building looks today:

At the beginning of its use, there was a receptacle under the loggia where babies could be left, but this was later replaced by a door that opened onto a horizontal wheel, which allowed the baby to be left safely inside, without revealing the identity of the person who brought it.

Sometimes the child was left with some tokens, often half a medal so that, if some time in the future the parent wanted to claim it, there would be a way to match the tokens and identify the right child.  Today there is a large room with small drawers, labeled with the name the child was given and the date he or she arrived.  Visitors can open the drawers and see what was left with the infant.

This drawer was labeled "Paolo 10.07.1872"

Little Saturnina's parent could not even manage a 

medal and left this button and bit of cloth.

All the children were given first names only.  When they left to go out into the world, they were given the last name "Innocenti."  If you know someone with this surname, they undoubtedly had an ancestor who was an abandoned child.  I love it that these babies were always thought of as innocent, regardless of what anyone might think of how they were conceived and what their parents did in abandoning them.  

This was not the case in other parts of Italy, where such infants were given the last name Espósito, which means "exposed," or left outside.

The children in Ospedale degli Innocenti we're given an education. They were taught to read and write. The boys were taught music, painting, and sculpture. Given the prejudices the times, girls were taught instead weaving, silk work, and "domestic arts." But the girls were also given a dowry, so they could marry or, of course, take the other route that was always available to girls, join the convent.  The children were cared for until they were eighteen.

Nowadays the building houses a museum dedicated to the work that was done there.  One of the favorite things I saw was the Madonna degli Innocenti. I loved it because it expresses so vividly the attitude toward these children - that they are precious and deserve to be protected and given a life in the greater society.

In fact, everywhere one looks there are wonderful images of babies.

The art gallery on the top floor would be the envy of almost any city.   It houses, among other works, an Adoration of the Magi by Domenico Ghirlandaio and a spectacular Madonna and Child, an early work by Botticelli.

When the Della Robia Bambini were last restored, all but two were replaced on the façade.  The one at the top of this post and this one were replaced with replicas and  are hung in the art gallery, so that we can get a close look at the artistry involved.

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  Notice the elongation of the figure so it will look in proportion when seen from the street.

There is no doubt about the meaning of these beautiful works. They fairly sing of the preciousness of children.  The American Academy of pediatrics, seeing that, has adopted one of these images as their insignia.

The building itself has been beautifully restored, so that visitors can enjoy the architecture.

 

The ground floor has a museum space designed to appeal to children, and when I was there the other day there were plenty of them with their parents to see things especially chosen to appeal to them.

Another part of the building, not open to the public, houses local and international organizations devoted to protecting the rights of children.  

Beauty of place and beauty of spirit!