Florence and the Idea of Jerusalem

From the time of Dante through the 17th century and beyond, Florence had a special relationship with the Biblical Jerusalem--with the idea, that is, of a city chosen by God to be a sign of human peace. This collection of essays traces the development of this 'Idea of Jerusalem' from the Divine Comedy and medieval Holy Land pilgrimages through the 1439 Council of Florence, Savonarola's end of the 15th-century preaching, and the astonishing project of Grand Duke Ferdinand I to transfer the Holy Sepulcher from Jerusalem to Florence. The volume also recalls the city's 19th- and 20th-century Jerusalem image.