Museum of the Innocents

The Ospedale degli Innocenti was designed by Brunelleschi in 1419 as an orphanage for abandoned children. It functioned for over 400 years. Della Robbia created the porcelain medallions of babies that line the facade below Brunelleschi's loggia. It was hard to imagine this place with all the children, wet-nurses and other personnel. Up to 1000 babies per year were left here.

At the far end of the veranda is the window where abandoned babies could be left. 

The first section in the tour had much information about the history of the institution. There were many small drawers that contained items left with abandoned babies. It was common to leave half of a broken item of jewelry or some other potentially identifying item.

The main courtyard inside. On the upper left is the back side of the loggia seen from the front.

We climbed up to the top level to see the loggia from the inside. The rafters were beautiful. There was a lot of art on display here.

A glazed terra cotta by Della Robbia shows the Annunciation with many babies watching.

Pictures of babies were everywhere. This sculpture shows the swaddling that was common to be sure the babies' limbs grew straight.

This fresco fragment shows the Madonna nursing the Christ child, an uncommon depiction, but suitable for this place that had many, many wetnurses.

There also happened to be a special Lego show in the building. There were huge dioramas of things like cityscapes, pirate coves, and space stations. But this one of the facade of the Santa Croce church caught my eye. Yes, these are Legos!