PALAZZO DAVANZATI An interesting example of 14th century home showing the transition stage from the medieval tower house to the Renaissance building.

PALAZZO DAVANZATI

An interesting example of 14th century home showing the

transition stage from the medieval tower house to the Renaissance

building.

PALAZZO DAVANZATI

• The Palace, built by the Davizzi family around mid-14th century, was purchased in 1578 by the Davanzati family (their coat of arms is still visible on the façade) and remained in their possession until 1838, when it was divided into flats and suffered serious damages.

• In 1904 it was purchased and restored by the antique dealer Elia Volpi, who entirely furnished it and opened it to the public in 1910 as Museum of the Old Florentine House. After alternate events, which comprehended also the dispersion of the original furniture pieces, the palace was purchased in 1951 by the State that reorganised it and opened it once more to the public in 1956.

• Its most important feature is the architectural structure that represents an interesting example of 14th century home showing the transition stage from the medieval tower house to the Renaissance buildings. The original façade was decorated with a three-arch loggia, now closed that was once open and used as a shop. A 16th century “loggia” replaces the usual medieval battlements on the top of the building.

PALAZZO DAVANZATI: THE COURTYARD

• The interior, which also has an underground gallery, has a suggestive courtyard on the ground floor that gives access to the stone and wood staircase with rampant arches leading up to the four upper floors.

PALAZZO DAVANZATI

The arrangement of the building shows that the rooms of the first floor have the same layout of those on the third floor. Rooms are articulated in a "madornale", that is a large audience hall, dining rooms, bedrooms and "agiamenti" (toilets), a “rarity” in theelegant houses of the period.

Master Room Audience room

Bedroom Toilets

• All the rooms have floors in “cotto” and ceilings in wood, some of which decorated with paintings. The walls of some of the rooms are decorated with frescoes and decorations that were quite popular in Florentine 13th century homes, representing curtains and coat of arms. The most beautiful rooms are the “Sala dei Pappagalli” (The Parrots Room) and the Bridal Chamber with scenes of the life of the Lady of Vergi.

PALAZZO DAVANZATI: THE PARROT ROOM

PALAZZO DAVANZATI: THE PRESENT ARRANGEMENT

The present arrangement of the Museum aims at reconstructing the setting of an old Florentine home, with furniture and household tools from the 14th to the 19th century. Bedrooms display for instance chests full of linen and

cots, while the audience hall on the first floor exhibits a rare painted cabinet, created by a Sienese artist of the 16th century, and the wooden

painting shows The Game of “Civettino” by Giovanni di Ser Giovanni nicknamed "Scheggia" dating back to the 15th century and the marble bust

of a Child by Antonio Rossellino, also dating back to the 15th century.The museum also preserves a very fine collection of old ceramics and the

17th century hand warmers in the shape of shoes.A very important document in the story of the family and palace is the

Genealogical tree of the Davanzati Family, a work by an anonymous Tuscan painter of the 17th century. The State has recently purchased a rare

wooden chest or throne-bed" with inlaid front and headboard, rnanufactured in the Tuscan-Umbran area during the last quarter of the 15th century.

The kitchen on third floor exhibits furniture and ordinary daily households, together with working tools, like looms, warping machines and spinning wheels that document some of the activities carried out in the house.

The Museum also displays a very fine collection of laceworks ranging from the 16th to the 20th centuries and samplers.

Needle Lace Pharmacy jar

The kitchen on the third floor

TrunkUp to 17th century there were no armoires,

clothes were stowed in trunks

PALAZZO DAVANZATI: THE PRESENT ARRANGEMENT

Safe, deposit Chair called in

Florence"Savonarola"

BedroomVirgin and Child, XVth

Century

in Florence until the 18th century there was still in every house a small image of Our

Lady

PALAZZO DAVANZATI: LADY BED CHAMBERThe whole legend

of "The Castellana di Vergi"

Fresco - Detail

Medieval “Soap Opera”: the story of the Chatelaine de Virgy

The adventures of the Burgundy Chatelaine and of William Cavalier (the Knight), their thwarted love, the jaleous and cruel love of the "Duchess of Burgundy" quickly enters all foreign literatures. The story of the Dame de Virgy was translated in English, German, Dutch but it was in Italy that became incredibly famous.

The story The duke of Burgundy went hunting and his wife the Duchess invited to the castle William Cavalier to paly chess. She tried to seduce him, but invain, because he was secretly in love with the Chatelaine de Virgy (look at the first scenes of the fresco).The duchess, refused by the young knight, was very offended and when her husband came back she accused the knight of having tried to seduce her. The Duke convenes William who, to prove his innocence, invited him to observe them when alone with the Duchess and pretends to be in love with her.The very angry Duke would like to punish his wife but she, not only managed to calm him down, going to bed with him (you actually see the topless Duchess in bed with him!) but she even managed to be told whom William was in love with!The wicked woman organised a big party for all the very important people of the region and during it she told everyone that the Chatelaine and William Cavalier were lovers.For shame the Chatelaine killed herself with a sword. William did the same, seeing his beloved dead and the Duke punished the Duchess slashing her throat

The palace Davanzati and an example of residencial architecture in Florence

in ‘300.

Entering the building is a corridor leading of the building.Crossing the

threshold of the door you enter a room that was once the private patio of

the family, on the open road. The ahrming coutyard is the center of the

building, where you see the upper storey’s spectacularity in a maze of

ladders, steps and walkways. On the first floor are a living “egregious”,

which corresponds to the ground floor loggia, dining room, a closet and a

bedroom, which corresponds to the portico of the courtyard. On the second

floor, the bedroom is the only environment that preserves the decoration of

frescoes. Figured in a band is a series of love stories, adventure and death,

taken from medieval legend of the Virgin of Castellana, living room, dining

room, study. The third floor is covered with cloth of the House, with walls

painted with a frieze of an orchard with potted. The top floor is the kitchen,

at the top to avoid ipregnating the house of fumes and vapors and also to

allow quick escape in case of fire. The exterior of the building we see arms

of Davanzati.

Anghel

Dear friends,

I want to talk you about Palazzo Davanzati.

On March 10, 2010, our class from the technical institute for accountants and surveyor ITCG “Enrico Fermi” of Pontedera visited this palace.

It is an example of the Florentine architecture.

I liked this palace because it has a beautiful structure. It was build for Davizzi family and, after, passed to Davanzati, a very rich and powerful Florentine merchants family.

It was built on four floors and the structure of the floors is the same. On ground floor there are the merchants’ shops. The rooms of the palace are very large and wide and the furnishings are in ancient style, but they are not the original ones, because they were sold to different clients, above all to the Americans.

In particular, I appreciated the bridal bedroom. I liked so much the frescoes on the wall. They tell us the Castellana di Vergi’s history, according to the legend.

I also liked the “Pavoni’s room”. It is interesting for its frescoes on the walls, with geometrical wallpapers.

For all this reasons I think that it is a beautiful museum, pleasant to visit.

I hope to meet you soon!

Ylenia Pieracci