Palazzo Doni, Renaissance palazzo near Corso Tintori, Florence, Italy.
Palazzo Doni stands at Corso Tintori 4, on the corner of via Magliabechi. Its Corso Tintori front is a 19th-century design, likely from the Foresi period, with carved heads on the window architraves of the piano nobile wearing glasses, masks and turbans. Demolitions for the Biblioteca Nazionale cut back the building, turning its inner courtyard into a railed space facing via Magliabechi.
The building was constructed in the late 15th century as a residence for Agnolo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi, two members of influential Florentine merchant families who had just married. This union between wealthy trading families was typical for the period and shaped the house's evolution over the following centuries.
A plaque in the entrance hall, placed by Mario Foresi in 1875, records that Raphael stayed here to paint the double portrait of Agnolo Doni and Maddalena Strozzi, now in the Galleria Palatina. A second plaque, added by the Elba-born writer Raffaello Foresi, carries the saying "Amici, nemici / parenti, serpenti / cugini, assassini / fratelli, coltelli".
The building is visible from the street and its decorated facade can be seen when walking along Corso Tintori. Note that parts of the original interior courtyard were altered during later modifications, so the inside may not look exactly as it did when first completed.
A second plaque inside bears a saying recorded by the Elba-born writer and journalist Raffaello Foresi: "Amici, nemici / parenti, serpenti / cugini, assassini / fratelli, coltelli" — friends, enemies; relatives, serpents; cousins, assassins; brothers, knives. Mario Foresi had placed the first plaque in the entrance hall in 1875, during the works he promoted on the building.
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