ORSANMICHELE, Exterior Statues

The best part of Orsanmichele that you can't miss is the extraordinary set of sculptures lined up in the sixteen niches all around the church's exterior.

So just like always, before entering the church, I highly recommend taking a full tour around the building's exterior: this time it's more important than ever, and you'll see wonderful sculptures in the tabernacles between the large ground floor windows! Mark, George, Matthew, John the Evangelist... these are just some of the saints who seem to protect this extraordinary monument with their majestic presence: the expression of an entire community, represented by professional trade associations.

You should know that each "Arte" (the name trade corporations in Florence were given) was assigned a pillar of the loggia to decorate with a tabernacle and statue of its own patron saint. So at different moments almost all of the great 15th-century sculptors worked here, including Donatello, Brunelleschi, Verrocchio, and Ghiberti, as well as some important sculptors of the following century, such as Baccio da Montelupo and Giambologna. As you can see, all the statues are united by a great admiration for ancient sculpture....