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Palazzos

Palazzo Corsini

Palazzo Corsini is a late baroque building, obvious throughout its many architectural details - from the roofs decorated with statues copied from antiquity and terra cotta vases, the ornate rooms and interior grotto, and the main, U-shaped courtyard that opens towards the lungarno and north bank of the Arno.

The two men responsible for Palazzo Corsini were Bartolomeo Corsini (1622-1685), the son of Filippo Corsini and Maria Maddalena Macchiavelli and, Filippo son of Bartolomeo's son (1647-1705) who expanded the portion of the Palazzo that extends towards Ponte Santa Trànita.

The construction continued non-stop for 50 years. The magnificent decorations, that were done between 1692 and 1700, belong to one of the finest and most intense moments in Florentine painting. The family commissioned several artists to decorate the noble apartment on the first floor, that includes Galleria Aurora, the Salone, the ballroom and other important rooms with work by Anton Domenico Gabbiani, Alessandro Gherardini and Pier Dandini.

Today the Palazzo is used for many important events and can also be rented for private affairs. The official website: English | Italian

Below is a history of the Palazzo Corsini from the 1905 book "Florentine Palaces, And Their Stories" by Janet Ross - some of the scholarship from that day may have changed since!

Palazzo Corsini

Palazzo Corsini
Via di Parione, 11
50123 Firenze
Italy

Museum of Palazzo Davanzati

Also known as the Museum of the traditional Florentine house, The Palazzo Davanzati was erected in the 14th century by the Davizzi family, who were wealthy members of a wool guild. In 1516 it was sold to the Bartolini family, and, later that century, to the Davanzati family, who held it until 1838. After the suicide of Carlo Davanzati, it was split into different quarters and modified. After escaping the numerous demolitions of 19th century Florence, it was bought by Elia Volpi, an antiquarian, who restored to its original state.

In 1910, Volpi opened the building as a private museum. The contents of the museum kept changing as Volpi sold the furniture at auctions, including a major sale in 1916 in New York. In the 1920s, Egyptian antique dealers Vitale and Leopoldo Bengujat acquired the building and its contents. It was acquired by the Italian State in 1951.

The Palazzo is entirely furnished with paintings, furniture and objects partly derived from other Florentine museums and partly from donations and acquisitions. Apart from the furnishings, which faithfully reflect those of a Florentine home from the medieval to the renaissance periods, the museum also has an important collection of lace from Italy and elsewhere.

Museum of Palazzo Davanzati
Via di Porta Rossa 13
Florence, Italy 50122
+39 055 2388610
www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/davanzati

Palazzo Rucellai

Current scholarship agrees that the Palazzo Rucellai was designed by the famous artist, architect, and humanist Leon Battista Alberti, but built by Bernardo Rossellino in the mid-fiftheenth century. It is notable for being one of the first palazzos to express humanism in Renaissance residential architecture. This new style is evidenced by an elegant design that sets the building apart from the more fortress-like structures that had been built before in Florence, including the Palazzo Medici with its more heavily rusticated ground floor.

The Palazzo is currently home to the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai, a school that offers diverse study abroad possibilities to international students, especially in the field of liberal arts. A tour of the facilities offers a great opportunity to view Renaissance art, and in particular beautiful vaulted ceilings decorated with mythological figures and motifs.

The Rucellai family still occupy the top floor of the Palazzo.

Palazzo Rucellai
Via della Vigna Nuova, 18
Florence, Italy 50123
+39 055-2645910 (The number is for the Institute - visits can be arranged by appointment.)

Palazzo Medici Riccardi

Located near the San Lorenzo Market, the Palazzo Medici is one of the finest and most famous palazzos of Florence. It was built in the fifteenth century on the commission of the Medici family by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi, a disciple of Ghiberti and collaborator of Donatello. The palazzo is a prototype of Renaissance civil architecture and effectively represents the power and influence of the Medici family. The building exerts influence on new architectural projects to this day, and has many features, like the rusticated stones on the lower level and the finer cuts stone at the top that have been copied for centuries.

The Palazzo Medici contains a museum with regular exhibitions dedicated to major figures in modern and contemporary art (like this exhibit by Yang Maoyuan). The palazzo has a beautiful seventeenth-century staircase that leads to the Chapel of the Magi, containing imaginative frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli that are considered to be some of his finest work. There is also a fine statue of Orpheus by Baccio Bandinelli in the ornate courtyard.

Palazzo Medici Riccardi
Via Camillo Cavour n.1
50129 Firenze
Telephone +39 055 2760 340

Continue reading Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

Palazzo Uguccioni

Piazza della Signoria has been the heart of Florence from the Medieval times to the present day.

The square is not only the civic center of the city but is also a magnificent open air museum.

Some of the most important palaces of Florence surround the square, including Palazzo Uguccioni. The building, with its noble and harmonious façade, was created by Mariotto di Zanobi Folfi in 1549 to a design sometimes attributed to Michelangelo or Raphael.

From the ground floor, constructed with large ashlars forming three arches, two stories rise above and are divided by twin columns of the Ionic and Corinthian order which are set on plinths.

On the first floor, above the entrance, is a bust of Cosimo I. In this magnificent building the apartments of Palazzo Uguccioni can be found.

Palazzo Strozzi

Palazzo Strozzi was begun in 1489 by Benedetto da Maiano for Filippo Strozzi, a rival of the Medici who desired to have the most magnificent palace in the city. Filippo Strozzi was left in ruins by the cost of the project and died in 1491. The palazzo was eventually finished in 1538 by Il Cronaca (Simone del Pollaiuolo).

Today the Strozzi houses 2 separate exhibition spaces (the main space, and the Strozzina in the basement) with rotating exhibits (3 a year), a brand new cafÃ©, administrative offices, and a library.

Palazzo Strozzi
Piazza Strozzi, 50123 Firenze
Telephone +39 055 27 76 461/06
[email protected]

Palazzo Tornabuoni

One of the swankest new places to stay in Florence:

"Scheduled to open in early 2008, Palazzo Tornabuoni (866-753-6667), a stunning renovated 15th-century Florentine palace being divided into apartments, is offering fractional shares from around $230,000."

Cezanne exhibit at Palazzo Strozzi

This sounds interesting, from the BBC:

"A painting by the French artist Paul Cezanne that was lost for more than 60 years is to go on show in Italy. The picture disappeared after its last exhibition in 1945, before being found recently in a private collection by art historian Francesca Bardazzi. It will be shown from 2 March as part of an exhibition of Cezanne's work at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. Mr Bardazzi dates the painting, depicting a scene from the New Testament, to between 1860 and 1870. Cezanne is considered a major influence on many 20th Century artists and art movements, particularly Cubism."

Photo credit to the BBC and AFP

All entries in Palazzos (alphabetical listing)

Cezanne exhibit at Palazzo Strozzi

Museum of Palazzo Davanzati

Palazzo Corsini

Palazzo Medici Riccardi

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