Palazzo Spini Ferroni is a large

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

palace located along

Via de' Tornabuoni Via de' Tornabuoni, or Via Tornabuoni, is a street at the center of Florence, Italy, that goes from Antinori square to ponte Santa Trinita, across Santa Trinita square, distinguished by the presence of fashion boutiques. The street houses high ...

at the corner of Piazza Santa Trinita, in central

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, region of

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, Italy. It stands across from the church of

Santa Trinita Santa Trinita (; Italian for "Holy Trinity") is a Roman Catholic church located in front of the piazza of the same name, traversed by Via de' Tornabuoni, in central Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. It is the mother church of the Vallumbrosan ...

History

The palace was commissioned in 1289 by the rich cloth merchant and banker Geri Spini, on plots that he had bought after the 1288 flood of the

Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...

, from the monks of

. At the time, it was the largest privately owned palazzo in Florence, rivaling in size the contemporary Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government of the Republic. The design of Palazzo Spini Feroni has been attributed to list of architects including Arnolfo di Cambio or Arnolfo's father, Lapo Tedesco. The edifice's original appearance can be seen in Ghirlandaio's frescoes in the

Sassetti Chapel The Sassetti Chapel (Italian: Cappella Sassetti) is a chapel in the basilica of Santa Trinita in Florence, Italy. It is especially notable for its frescoes of the ''Stories of St. Francis'', considered Domenico Ghirlandaio's masterwork. History F ...

of the neighbouring church of

. Built during a turbulent medieval century in the city, noted for internecine conflict between families, the palace is a fortress-like stone block, with street level arches in a tall first story, with a protruding cornice surmounted by

merlons A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications.Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. Merlons are sometimes ...

. In the 14th century, the palazzo was divided between the two branches of the Spini; the section facing the piazza was sold in the 17th century. In the 1670s, Marquis Francesco Antonio Ferroni, a member of Grand Duke

Cosimo III Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinan ...

's ruling circle, had it redecorated with stuccoes by Giovan Battista Foggini and Lorenzo Merlini. During this refurbishment, the frescoes (1609–1612) by Bernardino Poccetti depicting ''Paradise with a Choir of Musician Angels'' and ''Adoration of the Shepherds'' were moved from their original location. In 1846, after a spell as a hotel, the palace was purchased by the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

of Florence, and later used for state offices during the period (1865–1871) when Florence was capital of Italy. In 1874, it was partly renovated in neo-medieval style; shop-fronts were opened in the ground floor and a tower and an arch facing the river Arno were demolished, giving the palace the present appearance. In the 1930s, it was bought by the shoe designer

Salvatore Ferragamo Salvatore Ferragamo (5 June 1898 – 7 August 1960) was an Italian shoe designer and the founder of luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. An innovative shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo established a reputation in the 1930s. ...

. Since 1995 the Palazzo has housed a museum dedicated to Ferragamo.

References

* *Touring Club Italiano. ''Firenze e dintorni''.

External links

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1289 Gothic architecture in Florence Spini Ferroni Houses completed in the 13th century Salvatore Ferragamo