Palazzo Gondi

Palazzo Gondi was commissioned by Giuliano Gondi the Elder in 1489, based on a design by Giuliano da Sangallo. It belongs to the select group of majestic Renaissance buildings that were owned by Florentine bankers and boasts an imposing rooftop belvedere overlooking the city. Over various periods, extensive terraces were added on the first floor, shadowing Palazzo Vecchio, and two more terraces were built at the level of the roof-terrace, offering magnificent panoramic views of all the monuments in the historical centre of Florence. Following six years of meticulous restoration, Palazzo Gondi now combines its Renaissance heritage with every kind of modern comfort imaginable.

It is possible to host elegant dinners, cultural and corporate events, conferences, weddings and film sets on the first floor of the Palazzo, taking full advantage of its beautiful reception rooms, including the grand hall with its large stone fireplace sculpted by Giuliano da Sangallo, as well as the spacious terrace overlooking Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio. The top floor features an exquisite historic residence providing accommodation, which can also be used for more exclusive events in its salons with their panoramic windows and terraces that offer breath-taking views the monuments of the city.

The history of Palazzo Gondi
The Gondi family is an ancient and noble Florentine family of whom there are records dating back to the time of Charlemagne. Serving as ‘podestà’ or mayors of the Florentine Republic, they engaged in trading wool and gold thread and silk textiles, working as goldsmiths, conducting banking activities and also serving as ambassadors in their dealings with the Medici family. The ‘Compagnia Gondi’ had branches not only in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and Poland but also in Constantinople and Calcutta. Family members held important political positions, especially in Florence and Naples, while they played vital governmental roles in France under the rule of Queen Catherine and Queen Marie de Medici. They were related to extremely prominent families in both Italy and France.

The first marriage of Giuliano Gondi the Elder, who had commissioned the construction of Palazzo Gondi in Piazza San Firenze, was to Maddalena di Filippo Strozzi. His cousin, Elena Gondi, known as Lena, was the mother of Jacopo Salviati, and was therefore the mother-in-law of Lorenzo the Magnificent. She was the daughter of Maria, who was the mother of Cosimo I, and was related to Pope Leo XI. In France, meanwhile, Antonio Gondi, was the steward of the Duke of Anjou‘s Palazzo and is famous for having financed, together with the Florentine Gondi family, the first voyage of Giovanni da Verrazzano, in which the Bay of New York and Florida were discovered. His son, Alberto, Duke of Retz, Ambassador and Marshal of France, married Claude Catherine de Clermont Dampierre and was also the lord of Noisy-Le-Roi and Versailles. Alberto’s son, Charles, Marquis of Belle Île, was the husband of Antoniette d’Orléans-Longueville and served as a General of the Galleys. The family coat of arms consists of ‘two crossed iron maces’ on a golden field, bearing the family motto “Non Sine Labore”, signifying that nothing is achieved without determined efforts.

Palazzo Gondi was commissioned by Giuliano Gondi the Elder in 1489, based on a design by Giuliano da Sangallo, in line with the tradition of other great Florentine patrician buildings such as Palazzo Strozzi and Palazzo Medici Riccardi, but offering a fresh stylistic reinterpretation. The area in which it stands occupies what was once the ancient Roman theatre dating from the 1st century, which extended to include the entire perimeter of Palazzo Vecchio.

Giuliano Gondi purchased Palazzo Giugni in the Santa Croce district in 1455, and rented the adjoining tower of the Merchants’ Guild, which housed the offices of Ser Piero da Vinci, Leonardo’s father, who became Giuliano’s sub-tenant for 30 florins a year. In 1485, Giuliano bought the tower outright, and it remained incorporated into the Palazzo until the 19th century. Leonardo da Vinci was a regular visitor to this residence and made sketches of the body of Bernardo Bandini from its windows following the Pazzi conspiracy. Bandini had been apprehended in Constantinople, where the Gondi family operated a bank, and was subsequently executed in Piazza San Firenze. A commemorative plaque recalling Leonardo’s association with the building during his childhood is placed above the entrance of Via dei Gondi. Da Vinci subsequently designated the Gondi family as testamentary executors for the Florentine portion of his estate.

Giuliano da Sangallo also designed the famous Gondi Chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. It was here that the Gondi family placed Brunelleschi’s wooden Crucifix as a gift to “embellish the chapel” by concession of Cosimo I and the Friars. The sculpture was also known as the ‘Cristo delle Uova’, or ‘Christ of the Eggs’, referring to the famous anecdote involving the sculptor and Donatello. Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, was received in full glory at the newly completed Palazzo Gondi in June 1495. It was listed as a monumental building to be considered part of the national artistic heritage in 1901, appearing on the list compiled by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. It is also mentioned in the UNESCO listing for the historical centre of Florence.

Exploring Palazzo Gondi

The countryard
The quiet, majestic courtyard instantly attracts visitors’ attention because of the undeniably excellent and invaluable quality of its sculptural decorations, in strong contrast with the sobriety of the façade. It is considered one of the most beautiful courtyards in Renaissance Florence and adheres to the traditional Florentine style: Sangallo, in fact, employed arches supported by columns here rather than following his usual preference for the arched and pierced motif he favoured in his other constructions in Naples. The other element that distinguishes this from other Florentine courtyards is the presence of an external staircase.

The ‘piano nobile’ first floor
The ‘piano nobile’ floor presents a grand hall with a coffered ceiling. Its monumental stone fireplace is particularly noteworthy. It was designed by Giuliano da Sangallo and is surmounted by two tall statues featuring Hercules and Samson, who serve as ‘Numi Tutelari’ or protective deities guarding the entrance and windows of the Palazzo. The walls are adorned with a series of portraits of some of the most famous figures from the influential French branch of the family, who assisted the two Medici queens, Catherine and Marie de Medici. Adjacent to this hall are two sitting rooms adorned with frescoes by Matteo Bonechi and Niccolò Contestabili.

The historic ‘Altana’
Just a short distance from Palazzo Vecchio, on the rooftops at the level of the 15th-century ‘altana’ belvedere, there is an apartment with terraces that offer commanding views of Florence. The panorama is unparalleled: it is as though you can reach out and touch Palazzo Vecchio, overlooking the Duomo and other monuments, as they rise above the ancient terracotta-tiled rooftops.

The Cellar
An ancient ‘enoteca’ wine shop is to be found in the ancient, irregularly vaulted cellars, where wines produced by the Gondi family at Tenuta Bossi continue to mature in the welcoming shade of Palazzo Vecchio.