Context, organizer of critically acclaimed walking tours, expands its program in Florence, with Palazzo Vecchio: Power and Prestige, a new walking tour that traces the power dynamics and social intrigue during Florence’s rise to power in the early Renaissance.

During the three hour walking tour, Context experts and scholars take visitors on a journey through the Palazzo Vecchio to explore the art, power, and politics of 15th century Florence. From Giorgio Vasari’s magnificent frescoes glorifying the city’s triumphs to Machiavelli’s private office to the square where radical cleric Savonarola performed his Bonfire of the Vanities and was later burned at the stake, the Palazzo Vecchio and its surroundings are used to decipher the complex and dynamic world of Renaissance Florence. The Palazzo Vecchio also gives opportunity to speak on the infamous fresco commission of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, whose now lost work ‘The Battle of Anghiari’ was the subject of a recent research project funded by National Geographic.

“The Palazzo Vecchio has always been the heartbeat of Florence’s historical center,” observes Molly McIlwrath, Italian literature scholar and Context Florence docent who leads Context’s walking seminar. “It's a place where art, history, mythology, literature, geography, politics, cosmography, science, architecture all come together, making it an intriguing and essential space to visit for lovers of the Italian Renaissance.”

Palazzo Vecchio: Power and Prestige lasts three hours and is available daily. Group walks cost €75 per person. Private tours cost €330 per party. As with all Context walking seminars, groups are led by a credentialed expert and limited to six (6) people maximum.

Founded by National Geographic writer Paul Bennett and designer Lani Bevacqua, Context Travel is a network of English-speaking scholars and professionals, including art historians, writers, architects and gastronomes, who organize and lead “walking seminars” in twenty-one world cities, including: Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, D.C., Istanbul, Athens, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Shanghai, Amsterdam, Beijing, Tokyo and Kyoto.