Chapter X: Part 10

After the death of Charles Edward the palace became the residence of the British Minister to the Court of Tuscany. Charles Greville, who was in Florence in 1830, writes: “I breakfasted with Lord Normanby, who has got a house extending 200 feet in front, court, garden and stables, for about £280 a year. His house was originally fitted up for the Pretender, and C.R.’s are still to be seen all over the place.”

The Velluti-Zati, Dukes of San Clemente, to whom the palace now belongs, descend from one of those great merchant families of Florence whose members were able to turn their hands and their brains to anything. The first time the name occurs is early in the XIIIth century when Piero di Berto, surnamed Velluti, had a cloth factory in Oltrarno, and dealt largely in wool. His son Buonaccorso fought at Montaperti in 1260, and when he died thirty-six years later was reputed to be one of the richest merchants in Italy. He built a palace and a tower, together with factories and houses for his workpeople, on a _podere_, or farm, called La Casellina (Via de’ Velluti and Via de’ Vellutini still mark the site). The Corsini, the Ridolfi and the Corbinelli built such fine houses near his, that the street was called the Via Maggiore (afterwards shortened into Via Maggio).

Lippo, Buonaccorso’s son, was the first of twenty-nine Priors of his house, and many of the Velluti filled important posts under the Republic as ambassadors to Lucca, Naples and Tunis, and as governors of various subject towns. One of the most famous of the family, and eminent as a jurist, was Donato, born in 1313. He filled the important post of Gonfalonier of Justice several times, was elected advocate of the poor, went to Bologna as ambassador in 1344, and in the same year was sent to Arezzo to quell a rebellion that had broken out in that city. A few months later, he represented the Commune of Florence in negotiating a peace between Perugia and Siena. Donato Velluti was several times ambassador to various courts of Europe, and wrote a chronicle which deals chiefly with family matters. In reading it one gathers how terrible the plague must have been in those days. Instead of mentioning a year, he perpetually dates events as “before (or after) the great mortality.” He nearly died of it, and records that he owed his life to the devotion of his wife Monna Bice de’ Covoni, “for hardly one in a hundred escaped.” Agnolo degl’Albizzi, husband of his wife’s sister Monna Ginevra, died of the plague of 1348, and Ginevra of the next epidemic in 1363. She had been left with four small boys, whose story, as related by Donato, will give an idea of the greater part of the chronicle. “Giano, son of the said Monna Ginevra, notwithstanding the sound and severe whippings received from her, showed signs of being a good-for-nothing and wicked youth; for his evil conduct his relations put him in prison some time ago, and there he still is. Paolo, the second son, gave hopes of becoming a good youth when in the bank of the Covoni, and did well until he took to running after women and idling about, thus wasting his time. He has now reformed and is doing well, and will become an honest man and a good relation. Filippo, the third son, is of no account, neither good nor bad, and has been made a monk in S. Miniato a Monte, all he was fit for. Antonio, the youngest boy, will be a good man if he continues as he has begun. He is now in Provence.”[88]

Paolo, a descendant of Donato, carried on the good traditions of his house, and began a chronicle in 1555, when he was fifty-five years of age. It gives a curious description of the relations between a merchant and a king of one of the proudest nations in Europe, and so pleasing a picture of honest Paolo himself that one is sadly tempted to translate the whole of it. Of his ancestor Andrea, a son of Donato the jurist, he writes: “He was a most excellent man, expert in his trade and active, and God-fearing. He always attended the first mass in S. Spirito and then went about his business in which he made large profits, as he began to trade after the great mortality of 1448, at which time goods were sold for ready money, so the gains were large. Piero, his son, preserved, but did not augment his patrimony as he might have done had he paid attention to the business. Andrea, eldest son of the said Piero, was tall, well made and of a fine presence, courageous and very hot-tempered when young, cantankerous and quarrelsome; his mother and his sister Maria offered up many prayers for him, and as it pleased God he was seized with a desire to go abroad. He went to Spain with a horse and nine ducats in his pocket, where he did so well that he left 60,000 ducats.... In Spain he acquired many friends, being serviceable to the great, to his equals and to those beneath him; lending and giving, and being very liberal. He was so beloved by the gentlemen and grandees, that no other foreigner had ever been held in such consideration. King Ferdinand, the Catholic, when in Valladolid was wont to rise at an early hour, and sometimes went to mass at the church of S. Francesco next door to Andrea’s house. After hearing mass the King would ride on his small mule into the entrance hall of the house and send for Andrea, who came down with his nightcap on his head, his habit being to go to his study and write for two or three hours, and then he would dress and brush his hair. The King seeing him thus said: ‘Andrea, is it not shameful that you, being a merchant and having to make money, should only get up now?’ So he swore upon his life, and such like modes of speech as they use in Spain, that he had been up for many hours, and would tell the King all he had written and done. Often the King would keep him talking thus in private for an hour or more, and when Andrea went to the palace the King would leave whomsoever he was talking to and come forward to meet him.” After describing various other members of the family Paolo continues: “It now remains to say something of myself; but as it is not fitting that one should speak well or ill of oneself, I leave that to others. I will only mention that I began to work in the Capponi’s shop when a small boy. Then, by my uncle’s desire, I went to Lyons and was in the house of the Panciatichi, and thence to Spain to join my said uncle. He kept me but a short time with him, sending me to see after his business at Valencia, Saragossa and Barcelona, and several times I went to the fairs in Castile. I was three hundred miles away when he died, and as he left all his fortune to the nephews of his sister, I found myself without money, save the little that came to me by law from the said uncle’s patrimony.... I repeat that I remained with little money and the loss of my youth, for I was then thirty-five. So I bethought me that with what I had to expect and any dower I might receive, I could live well, and decided to take unto myself a wife. But it did not turn out as I thought, for my gains were far less than I had calculated and my expenses much greater than I had imagined, in addition to which I had to buy much furniture, as I found but little of what had belonged to my father when I returned from Spain.... I then reasoned with myself that it would be better to do at once willingly what later I might be forced to do by want, and earn something by my own work. Our Lord God opened for me a chance in the bank of Federigo de’ Ricci, not, it is true, with a large salary, but had I it not to-day I should be, I will not say poor, because that I am with so many children, but in dire need. God be thanked for His aid. To go back somewhat, I note that in January, 1547, I took for my legitimate and beloved wife Francesca Guidetti, who has been good, and is dearer to me than I can say. Easy tempered and an amusing companion, she rules our family excellently well; and has always been, and is, most affectionate to me, for these and other good qualities I love her very deeply....” Paolo Velluti died in 1562, and the present Dukes of San Clemente come from his younger brother Raffaello, one of whose descendants took service in the Spanish army, and settled in Sicily. He made a large fortune and married Maria Zati, after having bought the estates of Grottaglia and Galluccio. When the Sicilian family of Zati died out, all their possessions came to Francesco Velluti, who was born at Galluccio in 1699. He was made Duke of San Clemente, Marquess of Sta. Maria a Rifesi, etc., etc. His son returned to the old cradle of his race, and bought from the Guadagni the fine palace in the Via Gino Capponi. The present Duke is his grandson.

PALAZZO SERRISTORI

_Via de’ Renai: No. 2._

Of the old Serristori palace but little remains as it was incorporated in the large new building in 1873. It was chiefly interesting because the arch-traitor Malatesta Baglioni, who sold Florence to Charles V. and Clement VII., had his head-quarters there during the siege of 1530.

A certain Ser Ristoro came from Figline in 1384 and became notary to the Signoria, and from him descend the family of Serristori who gave ten Gonfaloniers and twenty-seven Priors to Florence. They were staunch adherents of the Medici until the time of Alessandro, when Francesco and his sons Gugliemo and Niccolò were exiled as rebels. Niccolò joined Filippo Strozzi against Cosimo I., was taken prisoner at Montemurlo and imprisoned for life at Volterra.

The Senator Serristori was Minister for Foreign Affairs under the Grand Duke Ferdinando III. His son Luigi served for a time in the Russian army, and afterwards became Governor of Siena, and of Pisa in 1845, when the last Grand Duke of Tuscany revived in his favour the title of Count Palatine, bestowed on an ancestor of his in 1439 by the Emperor Paleologus. His son Alfredo went to Constantinople and acted as adjutant to Omer Pasha during the Crimean war. In 1858 he filled the same post to General Cialdini and assisted at the campaigns fought for the Unity of Italy. He died unmarried and was succeeded by the son of his sister, who took the name of Serristori.

PALAZZO SODERINI

_Piazza Soderini. No. 3._

From the Ponte alla Carraja to the Piazza di Cestello all the houses along the Lung’Arno once belonged to the Soderini, who came to Florence in the XIIth century. Ruggiero fought under the Guelph standard at Montaperti in 1260, and was the first of thirty-two Priors and his grandson the first of sixteen Gonfaloniers of Justice the family gave to Florence. Tommaso was twice Gonfalonier of Justice and as one of the leading men of the Guelph party was exiled after the Ciompi riots. The portrait by Donatello, of his son Francesco, the great enemy of Cosimo de’ Medici, is on the façade of Giotto’s campanile.

Niccolò, his nephew, was a great admirer and friend of S. Catherine of Siena. Whenever she came to Florence, she stayed in his house, and he bought and arranged for her a tiny house on the Costa di S. Giorgio as a place of retreat and meditation. He was so popular that when he was elected Gonfalonier Machiavelli tells us, “it was a marvellous thing to see what a concourse, not only of honourable citizens but of the people, accompanied him to the palace; and as he went a crown of olive was placed on his head to show that on him depended the welfare and the liberty of the country.” But he accomplished little during his term of office and his anti-Medicean policy proved his ruin. His brother Tommaso was on the contrary an intimate friend of Piero de’ Medici. He successfully negotiated the league between the Duke of Milan and the Republics of Venice and Florence, and when he went as ambassador to Rome, was knighted with great pomp by Paul II., who also bestowed on him the privilege of quartering the Papal Keys and the Triple Tiara in his arms. “Being one of the chief citizens,” writes Machiavelli, “and much superior to the others, his prudence and authority was recognized not only in Florence, but by all the princes of Italy. So that after the death of Piero many citizens came to visit him as the head of the city, and many princes wrote to him. But he, being prudent and knowing well his own fortune and that of their house, did not answer the letters of the princes, and gave the citizens to understand that they should not come to his house but go to that of the Medici.” He called a meeting of the chief citizens, to which Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici came, and after “a long and serious oration on the condition of the city and of Italy,” he concluded that the two young men must be continued in the position their forefathers had held. Machiavelli tells us that Lorenzo was governed very much by the advice of Messer Tommaso, in whose charge he left the city and the state when he went to Naples in 1479, Soderini being then the Gonfalonier. He died in 1484 leaving five sons, one of whom, Piero, was proclaimed Gonfalonier of Justice for life in 1502. He continued Savonarola’s constitution, but his want of decision caused his downfall. Giovanni Cambi in his quaint _Istorie_ tells us “that another Gonfalonier was elected on the 28th September, 1512, because Piero Soderini, out of fear of the principal citizens who would have no more of him and demanded back their privileges, left the palace with three youths who had gone there fully armed, saying that if he did not come with them quietly they would cut him to pieces. He begged them to spare his life and they granted his request. Unknown to the Signori, who were then sitting in council, he went with them, and many citizens accompanied him from the palace as far as the house of Francesco and Pagholo Vettori. When he arrived at their house near the Ponte a Sta. Trinita, behind the loggia of the Frescobaldi, he refused, in his great anguish and fear for his life, to go further, his own house being at the Ponte alla Carraja near S. Frediano.” _Virtù_, or strength of character, was the one quality admired in those days, and Piero being a simple, good-hearted and not very courageous man, has been branded for ever as a fool by the biting pen of the famous secretary:

“La notte che morì Pier Soderini,
L’alma n’ando nell’inferno alla bocca;
E Pluto le grido: Anima sciocca,
Che inferno? va’ nel limbo de’ bambini,”

wrote Machiavelli with infinite scorn.

The Soderini palace, after passing through several hands, is now the property of Signor Schneiderff, and on the garden door is inscribed _Jus: ut pal: flor:_, words which have often puzzled passers-by. Passerini suggests that they were abbreviations of the motto engraved on Piero Soderini’s private seal ring, _Justus ut palma florebit_.

PALAZZO SPINI

_Via Tornabuoni. No. 2._

According to a genealogy drawn up by one of the Spini in the XVth century the family descend from Spina Moscardi, who lived in the XIIth century; and whose ancestor, a Roman soldier, settled in Florence at the time of the foundation of the city. His sons were Manetti and Ugo, both knights of the Golden Spur and wealthy merchants. Verini names the Spini among the great families of Florence.

“Qualis Spinorum fuerit fortuna secundos
Vobis, quæ fuxta sunt alta palatia muros
Testantur genus antiquum Romana propago.”

The houses and towers of both the brothers were partially destroyed by the Ghibellines in 1260–1266, and the remainder by the terrible flood of 15th December, 1288, when the Gianfigliazzi palace opposite was also swept away.

The present magnificent pile was erected about 1290 by Manetti’s son, Ruggieri, commonly called Geri, on the site of the old family palaces. Some say that Arnolfo di Lapo superintended the building, others that he only gave the design. Geri Spini, an able and very rich wool merchant, and the recognized head of the Guelph, or Black, party in Florence, must have been a remarkable and a many-sided man. Charles of Anjou named him his representative in Tuscany, he was Commissary of War for his native city, ambassador to Pope Boniface VIII. and afterwards to Benedict XI., when he rode into Rome at the head of 150 horsemen, all his own followers. On his return he was made Captain of Florence and a knight of the Golden Spur. King Robert of Naples created him Lieutenant-Governor of Arezzo and other cities, and in addition to all these multifarious duties he, together with the Mozzi, was banker to the Holy See, and he had to attend to his own business. He and his wife, Oretta Malespina, “a charming and virtuous lady,” are both immortalized by Boccaccio in the _Decamerone_. The story of the lady depends entirely on its charming and almost untranslatable language, but that of Messer Geri gives a vivid description of Florentine life and manners in the XIVth century.

“I tell how Pope Boniface, with whom Messer Geri Spini stood in high honour, sent to Florence certain noble ambassadors on account of the great need he was in. They dismounted at the house of Messer Geri, and talking together of the Pope’s affairs it happened that Messer Geri and these ambassadors walked out nearly every morning, passing in front of Sta. Maria Ughi, where Cisti, the baker, had his oven and personally exercised his art. Although fortune had bestowed on him such a humble calling yet had she been very kind to him, inasmuch as he had become exceeding rich, and though he would not change his occupation, he lived splendidly; having, among other good things, the best red and white wine that were to be found in Florence or in the country round. Seeing that Messer Geri and the ambassadors of the Pope passed his door every day and the heat being great, he bethought him that it would be an act of courtesy to offer them some of his good white wine to drink. But having regard to his condition and to that of Messer Geri, it did not appear fitting that the invitation should come from him, so he cast about for a way of inducing Messer Geri to invite himself. Always dressed in a jacket of dazzling whiteness and an apron fresh from the laundry, so that he looked more like a miller than a baker, every morning he set in front of his door, at the hour when Messer Geri and the ambassadors were wont to pass, a new copper waterpot, well tinned, a new earthen vase of Bologna full of his good white wine and two tumblers, which seemed to be of silver, so bright were they. Then sitting down he would clear his throat once or twice, and as they passed begin to sip his wine with such manifest delight that a desire for it would have been raised in a dead man. Messer Geri saw this for one morning, and for two, and on the third he said: What is it, Cisti? Is it good? Cisti, rising quickly, replied: Messere, yes indeed, but how good I could never make you understand unless you taste it. Messer Geri, in whom either the weather, or more business than usual, or perchance the tasty sips of Cisti had caused thirst, turned to the ambassadors, and smiling, said: What say you, gentlemen, would it not be well if we taste the wine of this good man; most likely we shall have no cause to repent? And together they went towards Cisti. He placed a fine bench outside and begged them to be seated, and to their servants who pushed forward to wash the tumblers he said: Companions, stand back and leave me to do this work, for I know as well how to pour out wine as to make bread, and do not you think to have a drop. Saying this he washed four good new tumblers, had a fresh small earthen jar of his good white wine brought up, and carefully gave to drink to Messer Geri and his companions. The wine seemed to them the best they had tasted for a long, long time, and they praised it mightily, so while the ambassadors stayed they went nearly every morning together with Messer Geri to drink. When the time came for their departure Messer Geri gave a fine banquet, to which he invited many of the most honourable citizens, and he also invited Cisti, who would not go on any account. So Messer Geri ordered one of his servants to go for a flask of Cisti’s wine, and to serve half a glass of it to every guest during the first course. The servant, perchance angered because he had never been able to taste of the wine, took a large double flask, and when Cisti saw it he said: My son, Messer Geri has not sent you to me. The servant affirmed that he had, but not being able to obtain any other reply, returned to Messer Geri and told him. And Messer Geri said: Return, and tell him it is so, and if he answers thee in the same fashion, ask him to whom I send thee. The servant went and said: Of a surety, Cisti, Messer Geri sends me to thee. Cisti answered: And I am sure, my son, it is not so. Well then, replied the servant, to whom has he sent me? And Cisti said: To the Arno. And when the servant brought this reply to Messer Geri the eyes of his intellect opened and he said to the servant: Let me see what manner of flask thou hast taken. And when he saw it he said: Cisti was right, and scolded the man well and made him take a proper flask. When Cisti saw it he said: Now I know Messer Geri has sent thee, and he filled it joyfully. And on the same day he filled a small barrel with like wine and causing it to be carried with all due care to the house of Messer Geri went there and waited on him, saying: Messere, I would not that you should think that the large flask of this morning alarmed me. Only it seemed to me that you had forgotten what I said to you; that this is not everyday wine for a family, and so I desired to remind you this day. Now as I do not wish to act as your guardian, I have brought you all the wine to do with as you will. Messer Geri accepted Cisti’s gift with great joy and rendered him such thanks as were fitting, and ever after looked upon him as a friend.”

Old Dino Compagni attributes the bitter hatred between the Cerchi and the Donati, which brought such evils upon Florence, to the direct agency of the devil, “abettor of all ill; who so arranged that a company of youths who were riding together after supper one evening on the calends of May, became so full of pride that they planned to meet with a company of the Cerchi and use fists and swords against them. On that evening, which is the renewal of springtide, women are wont to dance with their neighbours. The young Cerchi met the company of the Donati, amongst whom were Messer Corso’s nephew, Baldellino de’ Bardi, Piero Spini and others, and they fell upon the Cerchi with drawn swords. During the encounter Ricoverino de’ Cerchi had his nose cut off by one of the Donati party, said to be Piero Spini, in whose house they afterwards all took refuge. This stroke was the destruction of our city, because from it arose great hatred among the citizens. The Cerchi never said who did it, waiting to take signal vengeance.” The old chronicler goes on to describe how in 1301, when Charles of Valois stayed in the Frescobaldi palace in Florence, they and the Spini fortified their palaces and erected machines on their towers for throwing stones, so that together they could command Ponte a Sta. Trinita. Messer Manetto Scali also made warlike preparations on his palace, “so the Spini, whose large palace was opposite his, increased their fortifications, knowing how powerful the Scali were. Thereupon the two parties began to try and deceive each other and mutually made friendly speeches. The Spini said to the Scali, Now why do we act thus? After all we are friends and relatives, and all Guelphs; and our only intent is to liberate our necks from the chain which the people have put upon you and upon us, and then we shall be more powerful than we are now. Therefore, by God, let us be one, as we ought to be.”

When later there was discord in Florence because the Ghibellines wished to send an embassy to salute the Emperor Henry VII. who was at Pisa, and the Guelphs, with Messer Rossa della Tosa, Messer Pazzino de’ Pazzi, Messer Betto Brunelleschi and Messer Geri Spini at their head, refused, old Dino finishes his chronicle with an outburst of indignation. “Oh, iniquitous citizens, who have corrupted and vitiated the whole world by evil ways and illicit gains. It is you who have introduced every bad custom into the world, which now begins to revolt against you. The Emperor, with his army will capture you and destroy your riches on land and on sea.” But the Emperor soon afterwards died at Buonconvento, so Dino’s prophecy came to nought.

Doffo Spini was killed at the battle of Montecatini in 1315, and Nepo, his brother, was foremost among those citizens who expelled the Duke of Athens, tyrant of Florence. In 1498 another Doffo Spini made himself conspicuous by his virulent antagonism to Savonarola. He was the leader of a band of young nobles who called themselves the “Compagnacci,” and when the ordeal by fire was to take place Doffo, at the head of three hundred well armed Compagnacci, forced his way into the Piazza della Signoria in spite of the proclamation that armed men should not enter. Violi tells us that Doffo Spini often went to Botticelli’s workshop “and frequently said that they had no intention of making the Franciscan enter the fire, and of this they had assured him; it sufficed for them that he should continue the game long enough to enable them to carry out their intention of putting an end to this business of the Friar.” Doffo was one of the examiners appointed to conduct the trial of the three friars, but according to the testimony of Simone Filipepi, Botticelli’s brother, he seems afterwards to have repented of his persecution of Savonarola.

In 1651 the northern half of the great palace was bought by Niccolò Guasconi, and after his death it was sold to the Da Bagnano family, from whom the Marchese Alessandro Feroni bought it in 1768. The other half remained in the possession of the Spini until the death of the last of the family, leaving an only daughter married to Gugliemo Del Tovaglia. She had no children and made Luca Domenico Pitti her heir, whose son Roberto Pitti Spini sold his half of the palace to the Marchese Francesco Feroni in 1807. The southern façade rose straight from the bed of the Arno and the street passed under the palace by a long archway. Room after room and balcony after balcony overhanging the river had been built until the height reached 60 braccie, and grave fears were entertained for the stability of the building. So in July, 1823, that side of Palazzo Spini was taken down and the façade thrown back to admit of the continuation of the Lung’Arno Acciaiuoli. In 1834 the whole palace was sold to Mde. Hombert, and the fine old building was turned into an hotel. The Commune of Florence bought it in 1846, and some years later it was admirably restored.

In the church of Sta. Trinita is a fresco by Domenico Ghirlandajo in which Palazzo Spini is represented as it was in the XVth century.

PALAZZO STROZZI

_Piazza degl’ Strozzi, No. 4; and Via Tornabuoni._

The descent of the Strozzi family is traced like one of those old Tuscan towns which claim Noah or Hercules as their founder by an old chronicler, Lotto Fiesolano, who in his History of Florence says: “We cannot pass over in silence what our ancestors have so well described and what is so worthy to be remembered; _i. e._ that before the Arno was ennobled by the wonderful walls of the Florentine city, the Strozzi already existed. They took their origin from a noble and illustrious cavalier who sprang from the antique race of Arcady, and bore as his emblem a half moon.[89] When fighting, with his strong hand he throttled (strozzò) his enemy. The Etruscans in consequence renamed the family and from that famous father the Strozzi took their name. After Fluentia was built they were made citizens of the town, and aided by that house Fluentia enlarged her frontiers.”

The real progenitor of the house of Strozzi was however an Ubertino who lived early in the XIIth century. He had two sons, Strozza, and Geri who was killed in the battle of Montaperti. Amongst the descendants of the latter were Tito Vespasiano, and Lucia (the mother of Matteo Bojardo, author of _Orlando Innamorato_), they were born at Ferrara, where their father, an exile, had entered the service of the Duke. Tito was the favourite pupil of Guarino Veronese, and his name as an elegant Latin poet stood so high that Aldus Manutius collected and published his works. His son, Ercole, was also well known as a writer of Latin verse, and only became a convert to the use of the vulgar tongue owing to his friendship with Bembo. He was one of the wits and scholars who formed the brilliant court of Lucrezia Borgia after she became Duchess of Ferrara. But one June night the poet was found dead, pierced with twenty-two wounds, and as no judicial enquiry was made, rumour accused both the Duke and the Duchess of the deed. Alfonso, out of jealousy of his wife, whose praises Ercole sang in impassioned verses; Lucrezia, because her poet had recently married Barbara, widow of Ercole Bentivoglio. Ciriaco, one of Geri’s many descendants, travelled for some years in the East, and on his return to Florence took his degree as Doctor of Law and opened a school for the teaching of Greek and peripatetic philosophy. In 1535 he was invited to teach in the University of Bologna, and afterwards Cosimo I. summoned him to Pisa. His name, now forgotten, was once lauded to the skies for his attempt to complete the Politics of Aristotle by writing the two lost books. The work was published in Florence in 1563, and a translation appeared in Paris in 1600, as well as an introduction to Aristotle’s Ethics. The gentle fair-faced Maddalena Doni, painted by Raphael, was another descendant of Geri Strozzi, and Caterina, the nun who left the celebrated Strozzi library to the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1786 was the last of this line.

Strozza, son of Ubertino, who fought at Montaperti in 1260, was among those who signed the peace between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. One of his sons, Pagno, was the first Gonfalonier of Justice of sixteen of his house in 1297, when the foundations of the Palazzo Vecchio were laid, and no less than ninety-four of the family were Priors. Lapo, another son, Gonfalonier in 1309, was the father of Palla Strozzi, one of the twelve ambassadors sent by different potentates to Rome to assist at the coronation of Pope Boniface XIII. who, when he heard that they all came from Florence, remarked that the Florentines were the fifth element.[90] Palla’s son, Francesco, distinguished himself by defeating the Pontifical Legate, Cardinal del Poggetto, at Ferrara and was received with high honour on his return to Florence. He filled various important posts under the Republic, and was the ninth Gonfalonier the Strozzi gave to Florence. From him descended the well-known Palla Strozzi, one of the great merchant princes of Florence. In the _catasto_ of 1427 his property was valued at one-fifth more than that of Giovanni de’ Medici. Born in 1372, his name is included in every embassy between 1410 and 1434 and to him together with Coluccio de’ Salutati was due the establishment of a Greek chair in the University of Florence. Vespasiano tells us that he sent to Greece for countless volumes. The _Lives_ of Plutarch, the works of Plato and the _Cosmography_ of Ptolemy, he got from Constantinople, while the _Politics_ of Aristotle were unknown in Italy until he obtained them. I cannot do better than quote J. A. Symonds’ words about this most pathetic and dignified figure in Florentine history. “Palla degl’ Strozzi devoted his leisure and his energies to the improvement of the _Studio Pubblico_ at Florence, giving it that character of humane culture which it retained throughout the age of the Renaissance. To him, again, belongs the glory of having first collected books for the express purpose of founding a public library. This project had occupied the mind of Petrarch, and its utility had been recognized by Colluccio de’ Salutati, but no one had as yet arisen to accomplish it. Being passionately fond of literature, Messer Palla always kept copyists in his own house and outside it, of the best who were in Florence, both for Greek and Latin books; and all the books he could find he purchased, on all subjects, being minded to found a most noble library in Santa Trinita because it was in the centre of Florence, a site of great convenience to everybody (Vespasiano).”

During the struggle for supremacy between Rinaldo degl’Albizzi and Cosimo de’ Medici, Palla degl’ Strozzi, “who was,” writes Machiavelli, “a peaceful man, well-mannered and kindly, better fitted for a life of study than for keeping a party in check and averting civil discord,” tried to preserve a neutral attitude. But the presence of so enlightened and rich a citizen seemed dangerous to the Medicean party, and after the return of Cosimo de’ Medici from exile in 1434 he was banished to Padua, where he died, separated from his children, who shared the same fate in other parts of Italy. The wonderful bust of his daughter Marietta by “il bravo Desider si dolce e bello,” as Raphael’s father called Desiderio da Settignano, is one of the treasures of the Palazzo Strozzi. His cousin Matteo, married to Alessandra Macinghi, was exiled at the same time, and the Strozzi property having been confiscated, she was left in dire poverty with six small children. After her husband’s death at Pesaro, she sent her eldest boy, Filippo, to an old family friend who had a house of business in Palermo. She must have been a lovable, courageous, and sensible woman, judging by her letters.[91] When the last boy left her she wrote to Filippo: “I have no treasure but you my three sons, and for your welfare I have sent you from me, one after the other, without a thought of my own happiness.” When Filippo set up on his own account at Naples she longed to join him, but thought it wiser to stay in Florence and work for the possible restoration of her children to their native city. Charming are her descriptions of the various girls she proposes to her son as suitable wives; they pass before one like a procession out of the frescoes of the XVth century.

Of Filippo’s life at Naples, where he made a large fortune and became a favourite with the King, who eventually obtained his recall from exile from Lorenzo de’ Medici, we have an account by his son, who writes: “He lived well, but not magnificently ... entertaining rarely, but when he did, splendidly and with great ceremony, being served by the youths in his house, who were nearly all Strozzi, as he preferred to benefit his own blood rather than strangers. Ofttimes there were eighteen at his table, and he cared for their honour and advancement as though they had been his sons. It can truthfully be said that all the riches of the house of Strozzi of that time are due to him.... Near to the city of Naples he had a Masseria, or farm ... and he took such delight in it that he often worked with his own hands, and gathered from it the rarest and finest fruits.... He enriched his native State with many noble plants, introducing the ‘gentile’ fig, and artichokes, which had never been brought to these parts [Florence] before.... In stature Filippo was above the common, good-looking, alert, lithe and well made, fearing neither cold nor heat, hunger nor thirst. So kind was he of heart that when any of his partners, relations, or friends fell out (a thing that often happened, as their number was considerable), they came to him as head of the family, and he always reconciled them, often giving, in addition to his time and trouble, whatever he saw was needful to facilitate peace. He visited friends or relations in adversity or sickness, comforting and aiding them with all necessaries, so that his presence was often of more use to such persons than any other comfort or medicine. In short, he seemed made by nature not less to dispense his riches usefully, than to accumulate them.”

In 1466 his sentence of exile was cancelled, and he once more beheld his native city, where he married the beautiful Fiametta degl’ Adimari, one of the girls described by his mother, by whom he had a son, Alfonso, and two daughters. After her death he married Selvaggia, daughter of Bartolomeo Gianfigliazzi, who bore him three daughters and two sons; Lorenzo, writer of the records of his father and of other members of his family, and Giovanbattista, who by his mother’s desire took his father’s name, Filippo, after his death.

In the Strozzi archives is the contract between Filippo Lippi and Filippo degl’ Strozzi for the painting of the chapel which Strozzi had bought from the decayed family of Boni in Sta. Maria Novella, showing the shrewd man of business, who was determined to have his money’s worth:

THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY OF APRIL, 1487.

Let it be known to all that Filippo di Filippo, painter, has
engaged to paint for Filippo di Matteo degl’ Strozzi, his chapel
in Sta. Maria Novella, next to the high altar, under the following
conditions: In the ceiling there are to be four figures, either
Doctors, or Evangelists, or others, as the said Strozzi prefers, to
be decorated in blue and gold as richly as can be; the remainder
of the ceiling to be all of blue ultramarine of the finest,
of the cost of at least 4 “fiorini larghi” the ounce, and the
shafts and capitals are to be adorned with painting and gold,
according to necessity. And on either side there are to be two
stories [paintings] the subjects to be given by the said Filippo
Strozzi; and the sides of the window, and the pillars, and the
arch of the chapel inside and out, and the coats of arms, are to
be ornamented as the said Filippo orders; and in every place where
it be necessary such gold and ultramarine as is called for, shall
be used, and every other colour shall be good and perfect. And the
said Filippo di Filippo promises to the said Strozzi to paint it
in fresco and to finish it with all the care and diligence he is
capable of; and all with his own hand, especially the figures.

And it is agreed that the said Filippo is to have for his work,
with painting, colours, azure, scaffoldings, lime, wood and
everything else, so that the said Strozzi shall have no other calls
upon him, 300 fiorini di suggello[92] paid as follows: 35 fiorini
now, when he begins the work, for the wood, lime, and other
necessaries; the remainder, up to 100 fiorini, when he desires to
go to Venice;[93] and the rest from time to time as he works, but
so that 50, or at least 40, fiorini shall remain, which the said
Strozzi promises to pay punctually when he has finished, which he
promises to do by the 1st March, 1480....

Lorenzo gives a graphic account of the building of the great palace in the Life of his father, already quoted. “Having amply provided for his successors, and being more desirous of fame than of riches, seeing no better or surer method for transmitting his memory to posterity, and being naturally inclined towards building, and of no small intelligence, Filippo determined to raise an edifice which should perpetuate his name and that of his family in Italy and abroad. But he was confronted by the great difficulty that he who governed [Lorenzo de’ Medici] might conceive that another’s glory would outshine his; so, fearing to do a thing that might arouse envy, he spread abroad the rumour that having so many children and so small a house, he was bound, having begotten them, to provide a dwelling for them, a thing better done during life than after death. Thus he began tentatively, discussing first with masons, then with architects, about the necessity of having a house. Sometimes he seemed inclined to begin it at once, then he would appear irresolute and alarmed lest he should spend in a short time what he had gained in long years with much toil and industry; astutely hiding from all his desire and his intention, in order the better to carry out his design; declaring always that he only wanted a comfortable burgher’s house, for use and not for show. But the masons and architects, according to their wont, enlarged and improved on every plan, which pleased Filippo, although he feigned anger, saying that they drove him into what he neither wished nor could accomplish. Add to this that the ruler desired that the city should be adorned with every sort of ornament, thinking that as good and ill depended alone on him, so every beautiful or ugly thing would also be attributed to him. Aware that so great and costly a work could not be regulated or calculated with exactness, he feared that it might not only destroy his credit, as often happens with merchants, but cause his ruin. For these reasons he began to interfere, and insisted on seeing the plans, to which, besides many other expenses, after due consideration, he added the ‘_bozzi_’ [dressed blocks of stone with bosses] on the outside. The more Filippo was encouraged, the more he affected to hold back; declaring nothing should induce him to add the ‘_bozzi_,’ being unsuited to his condition and too costly, as he was building for use and not for show, and intended to arrange many shops under the house as a source of income for his sons. This was strenuously opposed, the extreme ugliness being dwelt upon as well as the inconvenience to those who were to inhabit the palace. Filippo respectfully demurred, and would occasionally complain to his friends that he had entered upon an undertaking which he prayed God might end well, and that he had rather never have mentioned it than find himself in such a labyrinth. Thus the more he appeared intent on avoiding expense, in order to hide the greatness of his designs and the vastness of his riches, the more he was driven and encouraged to fulfil his secret desires. By such sagacity and astuteness he attained what would either have been denied to him, or have caused him great harm. Most men thought that such a building would be his ruin before its completion; but he had planned to finish it in every detail, year by year out of his income, without diminishing his capital, and would have done so if death, which often interrupts magnificent and great enterprises, had not prevented him.”

Part of the Palazzo Strozzi covers what once was the Piazza de’ Tornaquinci, belonging to various families who had their towers and loggie round it. Without the intervention of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Filippo would never have been able to obtain possession of the ground. On the 10th February, 1489, Giovanni Tornabuoni, Pietro and Bartolomeo Popoleschi, Girolamo and Giachinetto Giachinotti, Giovanni, Piero and Niccolò Tornaquinci ceded all their rights to the whole, or part, of the said Piazza, to Lorenzo de’ Medici to give, sell, or cede irrevocably to whomsoever he wished. On the 10th March following Filippo was authorized to straighten the line of the Piazza, and to occupy any portions of the streets and small alleys that might be necessary. He was also permitted to build “_sedilia_,” or stone benches, suitable to the building. All the rights that the Commune might have to the Piazza de’ Tornaquinci were ceded to him. This act was ratified by the Signori and Collegi of the Republic, and on the 10th April Lorenzo de’ Medici had the deed of gift drawn up by a notary, on condition that the building should be begun within a year and continued without intermission under pain of forfeiture.

On the 10th July the first cartloads of sand and small stones were thrown into the foundations, and Filippo writes: “On the 15th July at daylight I began to pull down the carpenter’s shop in the Via Larga de’ Tornaquinci, as a beginning to my work; this spot was pointed out to me as good by Benedetto Bigliotti, who also advised that the building should begin on Thursday, the 6th August when the sun rose above the mountain.” This opinion being ratified by Niccolò and Antonio Benivieni, by the Bishop Paganotti and by Marsilio Ficino, all learned in astrology, the first stone of the foundation was laid by Filippo in the middle of the arch of the large door in the Via Larga di Santa Trinita e Tornaquinci (now Via Tornabuoni), when he placed certain medals under the stone. Tribaldo de’ Rossi, who happened to pass by at that moment, notes in his _Memoirs_: “Filippo said to me, take up a stone and throw it in, and I did so, and then put my hand into my leathern satchel in his presence and took out a ‘quattrino vecchio gigliato’ to throw in; he demurred to this, but for luck I threw it and he was pleased. Then leaving, I went to my shop, opposite to Sta. Trinita, and bethought me that for the memory of the event I would send for Guarniero, my son, and for Francesca, my daughter. Tita, our maid, who had come to the shop to fetch the meat, it being Thursday morning, went for them, and Nannina, my wife, sent me the two children well dressed, and I took them to the said foundations. Raising Guarniero in my arms so that he could look down, I gave him a ‘quattrino gigliato’ and he threw it in, and a nosegay of damask roses he held in his hand I made him throw in also, and said to him: ‘now thou art to remember this,’ and he answered yes, together with our servant girl Tita who was there; Guarniero was exactly four years and two days old, and Nannina had but a few days before made him a new overcoat of silk, shot green and yellow, and thus may it ever be to the glory of God.”

In a few days the foundations of the palace on the side next to the Piazza were filled in and work had begun, to the great discomfort of the neighbours; particularly of the chemist, Luca Landucci, who notes in his diary: “The pulling down of houses by great numbers of master-masons and workmen continues, so that all the streets around are choked with mountains of stone and lime, and with mules and donkeys carrying away rubbish and bringing rough stone. The worst is for the shopkeepers, who are bothered with dust and the plague of people who stand and look on, and for those who cannot get past with their laden beasts.” On the 21st August building commenced, and on the 18th May, 1490, the wall below the “_bozzi_” was finished on the side next the Piazza; on the 2nd June a mast, and a crane for raising the stones, were set up, and six days afterwards the first of the large “_bozzi_” was put in its place. “Every day,” writes Rossi, “eight or ten of these were set,” and Landucci the chemist notes, “on the 20th July, the ring at the corner of Tornaquinci, the one with the serpent or dragon, was put into its place.”

On the 18th May, 1491, Filippo Strozzi died, and Rossi writes: “In all the land has arisen great respect for the beautiful building, and he [Filippo] is held to be the good man he was. He had begun to put in the irons of the windows, five were already set in the front and the others were ready.” The day before his death Filippo made his will, containing most minute directions for finishing pictures and buildings commenced by him, particularly with regard to the “big house, which not being finished inside and out according to plan and model, so that both houses can be inhabited, my heirs are to see that it is completed; therefore fifty men at the least, between master-masons, men, and stone-cutters, are to be kept continually at work, so that without loss of time it shall be finished at the latest in the year 1496.” Filippo deputes “Messer Andrea Buondelmonti to hasten matters and to command everybody, at a salary of 50 ‘fiorini larghi’ a year for so long as he gives his time to the building, but the salary is to cease in 1496.” If not then finished he begs “the magnificent Lorenzo de’ Medici, if then living, and willing to undertake the charge, to see that it be completed in two years from that date, and if he be not alive or is unwilling to accept such charge, then the Consuls of the Guild of Merchants of Calimala, with two governors of the hospital of Messer Bonifazio and two elders of the house of Strozzi, are to have authority to finish it.” The will is far too long to transcribe, but the following clause is too characteristic to omit. “In order that the said Lorenzo, or the said Consuls, etc., may see to the work, I direct that between 1496 and 1498, or for whatever less time may be needful to finish the said house, they be authorized to come once every fifteen days to dine in the said house, in whatever part thereof seems to them most honourable and convenient, at the expense of my heirs, but no dinner is to cost more than fifty lire piccioli.” Filippo also forbids his heirs to sell the house or even to let it, save to a Strozzi. The two houses mentioned in the will are in reality but the one palace which was built to serve for two separate families; a fact often forgotten when the internal arrangements are criticized. Filippo’s widow did her utmost to carry out his wishes. “She was most desirous,” writes her son Lorenzo, “to husband the family wealth for her sons, so that when they attained majority they might not find their paternal inheritance diminished or the house unfinished.” In the family archives the building may be followed week by week by payments to the various artisans until 1507 when, writes Giovanni Cambi, “Selvaggia, for account of her sons, finished her part in obedience to the will, but Alfonso” [Filippo’s son by his first wife] “took no heed of it and did not hasten to take up his abode in the house. He began by inhabiting the ground floor and then continued building little by little for his own need and use, so that the said building will remain imperfect and do dishonour to their father.” Lorenzo Strozzi confirms this when in mentioning the will he adds: “It is as though he had been prescient that some of them had in their minds not to carry out what he had ordered. Though on the palace, that grand and splendid work, he [Alfonso] spent something, yet he did it unwillingly, and the blame is his if it is still incomplete.”