Camp Details in the Siege of Florence Fresco
This is a fresco which depicts the siege of Florence in 1530. The
fresco is in the Palazzo Vecchio, in a room currently used as an office
(see
http://www.comune.firenze.it/sindaco/lavoro1.htm).
It was painted in the mid 1500s and there seems to be some conflicts as
to who painted it. Some sources say Giovanni Stradano and some say
Vasari. I think that the reality is that Vasari did the design and
layout and Stradano did the actual painting, but this is purely my
conjecture.
The painting contains many interesting details of camp life in the
middle ages. I hope to show some of these as time allows me. I have
also seen several other paintings with tents in the palazzo, and it
would be nice if a complete review of all of them could be done, to see
all the details therein.
By far, the majority of tents are round. There are quite a few rectangular,
and pup tent styles. There are a few aquare ones also. There are also many shelters
with no walls in work and common areas. Many of the tents appear to also have dags.
In each class of tent, there are a few variations as well.
On to some details....
Square Tents
These are rare, but there are a few:
Tents with add-ons
These are also rare, but there are a few:
Cooking Areas
There are a few areas which show cooking:
Gallows
There are quite a few gallows in the painting. One wonders if these are for captured prisoners,
or for deserters, or criminals.... The fourth one actually looks like it might be used for some game.
Defecation
It's interesting that a few of these are included. If they really did it so close to camp then
it must have gotten incredibly rank there. They haven't even dug holes. One would hope that they
at least walked off a bit farther away from camp.
Any corrections or additional helpful information would be appreciated
- igelkottinus@yahoo.com
Chris Larsson
