Museo di Casa Martelli

Description:

• At the end of October 2009, Palazzo Martelli, once owned by the Florentine aristocratic Martelli family, has opened its rooms to small guided tours. It is not an ordinary museum, but rather a 17th-century exclusive palace introducing visitors to the private life of the family. The Martellis were bankers and art patrons, and the family painting collection is now on display together with sculptures (among them the copy of their coat of arms designed by Donatello) and precious pieces of furniture. Images of hammers (a reference to the family name; as "martello" translates to hammer) can be seen on the front and as part of interior decorations. The more domestic part of the residence, the small sewing alcove, the chapel, the parlor and the ballroom, can be visited on the first floor. But the more surprising areas are on the ground floor: a frescoed winter garden and a huge bathroom decorated with images of forest landscape and ruins. - Maria Frullini
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