The Arte della Lana was the wool guild of Florence during the Late Middle Ages and in the Renaissance. It was one of the seven greater Arti ("trades") of Florence, separate from the Arti Minori (the "lesser trades"). The Arte della Lana dealt in woollen cloth and cooperated with the other corporations of bankers and merchants in administering the commune, both under the podestà and the Republic of Florence. At the height of the industry the Arte della Lana directly employed 300 workers and indirectly about a third of Florence's population, and produced 100,000 lengths of cloth annually. The Arte della Lana saw all the processes from the raw baled wool through the final cloth, woven at numerous looms scattered in domiciles throughout the city. Like other guilds, the Arte served only to coordinate the activities of its own members, who did not generally own the means of production or directly manage the processes. Its syndics ensured that quality standards were met and contracts were honored. A guild is an association of people of the same trade or pursuits (with a similar skill or craft), formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. ... Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ... Defensive towers at San Gimignano, Tuscany, bear witness to the factional strife within communes. ... The Palace of the Podestà in Florence, known as the Palazzo Vecchio or the Palazzo della Signoria Podestà is the name given to certain high officials in many Italian cities, since the later middle ages, mainly as Chief magistrate of a city state (like otherwise styled counterparts in other cities...

The predecessor and until the mid-fourteenth century the rival of the Arte della Lana was the powerful Arte di Calimala, a corporation of importters of raw cloth, who dyed and finished it.

The guildhall, the Palazzo dell' Arte della Lana, was completed in 1308, with an attached fortifiable tower-house. From its interior, where some 14th-century frescoes remain, a gallery designed by Bernardo Buontalenti links the palazzo with the church of Orsanmichele. The palazzo is presently the seat of the Società Dantesca. A Guildhall is a building historically used by guilds for meetings. ... Bernardo Buontalenti was an architect in the Italian Renaissance who designed the crypt of the Basilica di San Lorenzo for the Medici family. ... The church of Orsanmichele (or Or San Michele), located on the Via Calzaiuoli in Florence, was originally built as a grain market in 1337. ...

References

• Medieval Sourcebook: The Arte della Lana & The Government of Florence, 1224
• Antonella Gozzoli, "Palagio dell'Arte della Lana"
• Bruce Brown, "History of the corporation": chapter 9.

Further reading

• Gualchiere, 2001.L'arte della lana a Firenze, (Florence: Edifir)
• H. Hoshino, 1980. L'arte della lana in Firenze nel Basso Medioevo: il commercio della lana e il mercato dei panni fiorentini nei secoli XIII-XV, (Florence: Leo S. Olschki)