The Florentine traditions: the Processional Wagon of Saint John the Baptist

To coincide with the Strozzi exhibition “Pontormo e Rosso Fiorentino”, inside Palazzo Vecchio’s Traces of Florence offers visitors a new take on the famous panels painted by Pontormo for the processional wagon of St John the Baptist (or the Mint) around 1514; is a unique opportunity to see them for the first time alongside other paintings and sculpture that adorned the wagon over the centuries. Shaped like a tower, this was the most monumental of all the wagons representing Florentine corporations and outlying regions that paraded in front of the civil authorities in Piazza della Signoria before moving on to the Baptistry, during the festivities (Festa degli Omaggi) for the city’s patron saint. Originally made for the powerful city Mint, the wagon was appropriated by the Community of Florence in 1782 becoming the Civic Wagon. Modified on several occasions, it was finally dismantled following the abolition of the Festa in 1808.
Museum opening times: 8-31 March: 09.00-19.00, daily except Thursday: 09.00-14.00 (except special openings); 1April-30 September: 09.00-24.00, daily except Thursday: 09.00-14.00
http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it/