{"id":27237,"date":"2025-06-25T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beculture.it\/?p=27237"},"modified":"2025-06-12T09:53:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T07:53:25","slug":"casa-martelli-florence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beculture.it\/en\/casa-martelli-florence\/","title":{"rendered":"Casa Martelli: an immersive journey into the life of an ancient Florentine dynasty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To those unfamiliar with Florence, the name may not ring a bell. Yet the Martelli were a powerful noble family<\/strong> well known in the city as early as the 15th century. Prominent bankers with close ties to the Medici family, they held onto their wealth and influence for centuries, inhabiting the family\u2019s historic residence on Via Zannetti until 1986, the year of the death of Francesca (1886\u20131986), who remained unmarried and was the last direct descendant.
Casa Martelli was opened to the public in 2009 and is now one of<\/strong> Florence\u2019s most fascinating smaller museums<\/strong><\/a>. The rooms, objects and artworks offer insight into the lifestyle of these distinguished figures of Florentine nobility. Let us begin with the items still preserved in the house, and follow the story of the Martelli family through the centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The historic bond with the Medici and connections to the world of art<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There was a tradition at Casa Martelli<\/a>: when the firstborn son married, he could make changes to the family palace\u2014owned by the Martelli since the 16th century\u2014to suit his own taste. Niccol\u00f2 Martelli (1778\u20131853) upheld this custom. For his wife Caterina de’ Ricci, he had a new summer apartment fitted out with “pastoral-style” frescoes by Niccol\u00f2 Contestabili: the sala boschereccia<\/strong> \u201cwoodland room” on the ground floor, which is one of the museum’s most enchanting spaces. Ruins, classical statues and human figures are set within a lush forest, preserving to this day an atmosphere of charm and wonder<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Niccol\u00f2 didn\u2019t stop there. In the following years, he continued to shape the building’s decorative scheme, this time on the piano nobile. Determined to celebrate the past glories of his ancestors, he commissioned several artists to decorate the ceilings of the first three rooms<\/strong> with historical scenes. The second room, once again entrusted to Contestabili in 1820, depicts the morganatic<\/strong>1<\/sup> marriage between Cosimo I de\u2019 Medici and Camilla Martelli.<\/strong> The union, which took place in 1570 following the death of Cosimo’s first wife Eleonora da Toledo, confirmed the deep and lasting bond between the two families. From that union, Virginia was born in 1568.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roberto Martelli and Donatello’s workshop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first and third rooms were instead decorated by Antonio Marini. One shows the Duke of Calabria’s granting of the golden fleurs-de-lis to be added to the Martelli coat of arms in 1455; the other shows Roberto Martelli (1408\u20131464) visiting<\/strong> Donatello<\/strong><\/a>‘s workshop<\/strong>\u2014a scene that highlights yet another significant aspect of the family’s legacy: their long-standing involvement in the arts.
Roberto, second of thirteen grandchildren of the founding patriarch Ugolino, managed the Medici bank in Basel. Backed by his considerable wealth, he commissioned several works from Donatello: the Arme di Casa Martelli<\/em> (c. 1460; later central to another fascinating episode), the San Giovanni Battista<\/em> (c. 1455\u20131460), and the Crocifissione<\/em> (c. 1450\u20131455), all now held at the Museo del Bargello<\/a>. These and other works by Donatello\u2014including the San Giorgio <\/em>for Orsanmichele and the Putti<\/em> for the Cathedral’s choir lofts\u2014can be seen depicted in the ceiling of the room. In the foreground, beside a stool, sits a wicker basket reminiscent of the magnificent Tomba di Niccol\u00f2 e Fioretta Martelli<\/em><\/strong> (Roberto\u2019s parents), also crafted by Donatello and praised by Vasari2<\/sup> in his Vite<\/em>, for the family chapel in the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
As early as the 15th century, the Martelli made every effort to reinforce their alliance with the Medici, and were among the first to provide financial support for the building of San Lorenzo, commissioned by Florence’s ruling family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"crocifissione
Crocifissione<\/em>, Donatello<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The daily life of a patrician family in the 18th century<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the Martelli salons, business was conducted, music and culture discussed, people danced and sipped hot chocolate surrounded by works of art. This is the image the family chose to present to visitors in the first room of the picture gallery\u2014a collection first developed thanks to Teresa Gerini, wife of Niccol\u00f2 Martelli (1634\u20131711)3<\/sup> and daughter of an important art collector. Their wedding also prompted the construction of the grand staircase leading to the first floor, adorned with a splendid wrought-iron balustrade<\/strong>. From then on, the Martelli home was enriched with paintings as well as goldsmithing objects, prints and books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"la
La congiura di Catilina<\/em>, Salvator Rosa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"giuramento
Giuramento di Bruno contro i Tarquini per la morte di Lucrezia<\/em>, Luca Giordano<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Among the earliest works in the collection, in addition to La congiura di Catilina <\/em>by Salvator Rosa (late 17th century) and the Giuramento di Bruto contro i Tarquini per la morte di Lucrezia<\/em> (late 17th century) by Luca Giordano\u2014both in the first room \u2013 there were also a Cucina<\/em> by Caravaggio<\/a> (unfortunately lost) and La Gallega<\/em><\/strong> by Diego Vel\u00e1zquez<\/strong>, now in a private collection. By the mid-18th century, such masterpieces had earned the Martelli great prestige and admiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"la
La Gallega<\/em>, Diego Vel\u00e1zquez<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A family portrait<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

During the same period, Donatello\u2019s San Giovanni Battista <\/em>also arrived at Casa Martelli, passed down from the canon Bernardo Martelli (1673\u20131752), last descendant of Roberto\u2019s line. To commemorate the painting\u2019s exceptional value, the family commissioned a suitable tribute: a family portrait \u2013 or rather, a conversation piece<\/em><\/strong>, a genre of painting that was very fashionable in Northern Europe at the time. Dated 1777 and painted by Giovan Battista Benigni, it depicts the elegance and refinement of the family: in one of the gallery rooms, seated on the left are the head of the family, Niccol\u00f2, and his wife Maddalena Tempi. Next to them, their eldest son Marco (1740\u20131813) turns his gaze towards his wife Teresa Pucci, who stands alongside the abbot Giuseppe, Niccol\u00f2\u2019s third-born son. On either side are the two children \u2013 Niccol\u00f2 and Maddalena \u2013 Marco\u2019s offspring. Behind the group, in a central yet discreet position, the servant Filippo Neri Baldini is serving hot chocolate \u2013 a refined and very expensive beverage<\/strong> at the time. On the right, we see the elderly Count Gerini, while behind him a couple of visitors admire a sculpture: the very same San Giovanni Battista <\/em>that had just returned to the Florentine collection.
This isn\u2019t the only recognisable artwork in the painting: behind the group, in a prominent position, is the aforementioned Congiura di Catilina<\/em>, and on the left wall, the Vel\u00e1zquez\u2019s masterpiece, later sold. The surrounding portraits, the landscapes paintings, and the precious fashionable furnishings confirm the variety of the collection and the Martelli\u2019s sophisticated taste.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n