A History of the Market: from Ponte Vecchio to NRG Pop-Up

Words by Emilia Sogaard

Following the first event of the new academic year at the Norman Rea Gallery, I wanted to investigate the history of markets and sellers making a place their own, whether that be in a gallery above a university pub in York or on a Renaissance bridge in Florence.

Starting with the origins of the word market:

Pre-modern definitions refer to ‘markets’ as physical and institutional infrastructures which provided dedicated spaces for the trading of goods. Cultural historians and sociologists suggest that a market is generally embedded in an institution; historically, this could have included rural fairs where farmers would have traded corn for other goods, highlighting social interaction or a shared identity. In contrast, economic historians view markets as impersonal, placing emphasis on the opportunities that they provide. Contemporary economists use the word ‘market’ to suggest a place (physical or not), which allows buyers and sellers to exchange any type of goods, services and information. Nowadays, across the world, physical markets provide both a weekly shopping place for locals as well as many having become major tourist attractions. For example, the Grand Bazaar in Turkey, the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market in Thailand, Portobello Market in the UK and the Ponte Vecchio in Italy.

 Tourist admires goods on Ponte Vecchio, 2024, Author’s own image.

The Ponte Vecchio, located in Florence, is a Renaissance bridge consisting of three segmental arches connecting areas leading from the old city; there you can find Il Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Galleria degli Uffizi and Oltrarno, where you will find the Palazzo Pitti where the Medicis once lived. 

Given the dense population of the city of Florence during the Renaissance, sellers would fight for space to trade their wares, and so the bridge became another area in which sellers could rent a space for their shops. When this bridge first became a market, the sides were lined with fish, meat and leather artisans. Initially, this specific use of the bridge for meat businesses was favoured by the city council due to the constant access to water which allowed the sellers to keep the bridge and surrounding areas relatively clean despite the abundance of animal products. Crossing the bridge now, which hosts an array of very expensive jewellery shops and merchants, it is difficult to imagine the stench which must have been created by the many butchers and tanners.

 Ponte Vecchio at Night, 2024, Author’s own image.

While today tourists flock to the scene to capture photographs or splurge their holiday budget on a gold watch or diamond ring, hundreds of years ago residents would have bought their weekly meat here. The transformation of this market was largely due to the Medici family who desired a more scenic (and less noxious) passage from the city centre to their home, leading eventually to the Vasari Corridor. In 1593, the Medici Grand Duke Ferdinando ordered the expulsion of the meat businesses across the bridge and called for goldsmiths and jewellers as their replacements, almost instantly re-inventing the bridge of sellers.

The Vasari Corridor (which is currently undergoing restoration), runs along the bank of the Arno and crosses over the top of Ponte Vecchio; it is lined with portraits and busts of significant members of the Florentine community and provided the Medicis with yet another way for them to reach their palace without having to push through the market-goers. A corridor in Derwent College at the University of York, reached by going up the stairs next to the Courtyard Pub, is part of the Norman Rea Gallery. Here, four times a year it is lined with artwork for various exhibitions and last week was bustling with university students turned marketgoers for the Pop-Up Market. This was the fifth market to be held in the gallery where various sellers, many of them students themselves, are invited to sell their work.

Norman Rea Gallery’s Pop Up, 2023, Author’s own photo.

Sellers range from second-hand clothing stalls, student artists who have also exhibited at the gallery’s exhibitions, jewellery artists, local booksellers, ceramicists and more. One frequent seller, Nicole K B, said “I always loving seeing what Norman Rea has to offer, and selling at the market fair is an amazing way to get involved and meet other local creatives, who all have such great pieces and fantastic stories behind them. NKB Jewellery was a passion project started in 2019, taking various vintage beads, sourced second hand and upcycling them into something new. I really appreciate all the support I’ve received from the gallery and guests, it truly brings me joy to see people embracing sustainable fashion!”

So, how do NRG’S Pop-Ups compare to Ponte Vecchio?

Well, they both have sellers and excited visitors, and are bustling places to be with views of varying architecture – aesthetic or not, depending on your taste – with the Ponte Vecchio affording you views of the open-air museum of the city of Florence, whilst the Norman Rea Gallery looks out upon the Brutalist style University buildings. Both of these markets bring people together and provide a sense of shared identity. The biggest difference, apart from location, is probably in price!

Norman Rea Gallery’s Pop Up, 2023, NRG Committee.