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home > Palazzo Strozzi 
Dozens of masterpieces from the most famous public and private collections in the world will be hosted in the splendid rooms of Palazzo Strozzi, one of the most important symbols of Renaissance architecture in Florence. Having been recently restored, it is being presented to the general public for the first time as a historical residence. The palace is situated in the city’s historical center, located between the square bearing the same name and Via Tornabuoni; it was the merchant Filippo Strozzi, known as the Elder, who strongly wanted its construction. He bought a good part of the surrounding buildings and demolished them in order to make space for his palace. Benedetto da Maiano was entrusted with its design, but he delivered only a model to his client. So, construction began in 1489 under the management of Simone del Pollaiolo, also known as Il Cronaca. Filippo Strozzi died before the palace was finished and it was his children who first went there to live around 1505. After a long period during which the Strozzi family lived mainly in Rome, the palace was returned to a new splendor in the mid-1800’s, first with Princess Antonietta and later with Prince Piero, who had the building renovated by the architect Pietro Berti between 1886 and 1889. On the whole, the palace looks more like a small fortress in the city’s heart, in accordance with the exact wishes of Filippo Strozzi himself. Having a rectangular plan, it presents a majestic structure, skillfully made to appear lighter, on the façade, by the Florentine ashlar-work getting gradually thinner towards the top and by the three floors, divided by linear cornices, decreasing in height. One of its main characteristics is the complete faithfulness to the architectural canons of the 15th century as to the façade: symmetrical and linear, of stone ashlar-work which appears massive on the ground floor, progressively becoming thinner towards the top until it is almost smooth. Inside, the elegant courtyard, created by Il Cronaca, is surrounded on all four sides by arches resting on Corinthian columns. The imposing entrance portals, surrounded by rectangular windows delimited by ashlar-work, open on three sides to Via Tornabuoni, Piazza Strozzi and Via Strozzi. Along the two upper floors run two orders of double-lancet windows inside whose arches are the coats-of-arms of the Strozzi family. The impressive overhanging cornice with its splendid decorations is supported by large brackets. The exterior is completed by the splendid torch holders, flag arms and the horse rings forged by the famous Florentine blacksmith Niccolò di Nofri, also known as Il Caparra, based on a model by Benedetto da Maiano. Inside one passes through large halls with elegant double-lancet windows and monumental fireplaces, which are the result of a careful restoration directed towards the recovery of this original and striking 15th century residence. The palace remained the property of the Strozzi family until 1937 when it was acquired by the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni; it was subsequently given to the State in 1999, which then granted it to the Comune of Florence. Palazzo Strozzi houses, still today, the historical Gabinetto Vieusseux, with its rich library, the Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento and the Istituto di Studi Umanistici and, on the mezzanine, the offices of the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi. The basement and first floor rooms are used for the world-class exhibitions that the palace houses.
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