Palazzo Corbizi: A Fortified Urban Palace in Florence
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Republic of Florence
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page6 sections
History
Palazzo Corbizi is a historic building in Florence, Italy, forming part of a fortified urban complex associated with the medieval Guelf Donati family. Located at Piazza San Pier Maggiore, the palace was formerly owned by the Corbizi and later passed to the Donati. Its history followed the succession already associated with the nearby tower on Corso Donati, to which the palace is attached.
The Corbizi and Donati complex
The palace belonged to a fortified urban insula, a compact city block organized for defense with towers, enclosed street fronts, internal courts, and connecting passages. It linked the tower on Corso Donati with a second tower that was later incorporated into Palazzo Donati in Borgo degli Albizi. The two towers and the extremely narrow street frontage expressed the defensive character of the complex.
The height of the towers reflected the influence achieved by the Guelf Donati family, a major Florentine faction associated with support for the papacy. That power was especially connected with Corso Donati, a prominent member of the family. The adjoining house at the corner of Borgo degli Albizi also formerly belonged to the Corbizi, indicating that their ownership extended along the frontage of the square.
Recognition and restoration
Palazzo Corbizi appeared in the 1901 list of monumental buildings prepared by Italy’s General Directorate of Antiquities and Fine Arts as part of the national artistic heritage. Major consolidation and restoration took place during the 1920s and 1930s under the engineer Carlo Picchi. Further work in the early 1970s was recognized for its quality by the monuments heritage authority in connection with the Marchi award. The building remains in use.
Remains
Palace and towers
Palazzo Corbizi forms a tall, compact frontage beside the tower on Corso Donati and acts as the connecting structure between that tower and the tower incorporated into Palazzo Donati. The building rises on substantial stone corbels. Its surviving heraldic features include one shield with the arms of the Corbizi and another bearing the arms of King Robert of Anjou, who ruled Naples from 1309 to 1343 and was an important Guelf-aligned ruler.
The adjoining Corbizi house
The neighboring house on the corner of Borgo degli Albizi has an older foundation, while its three-storey form is shown in Giuseppe Zocchi’s 1744 engraving of San Pier Maggiore church and square. It now has four floors. Its window arrangement and frames were altered, probably between the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and its original Florentine-style roof gutter was later replaced with a Roman-style form.
A marble bust of the Virgin stands at the corner beside the house. Its inscription reads “Alessandro di Filippo Nanini faciebat 1596,” identifying the maker and date. The year was formerly misread as 1696, but the inscription itself supports the date 1596. Two angels once accompanied the bust in frescoes painted by Bartolomeo Fontebuoni; those frescoes no longer survive.
Near the bust on the Borgo degli Albizi side is a small shield bearing the Corbizi arms. The design is divided into gold and red sections with elongated, wedge-shaped points. The shield already appeared in Zocchi’s 1744 engraving, preserving evidence of the family’s former association with the full frontage of the square.
