Moments from Palazzo Strozzi

Filippo Strozzi, a Florentine banker determined to build a family palace that would outshine his rivals the Medici, began construction in 1489 on a scale so ambitious that it wasn't finished until decades after his death, and the resulting Renaissance palazzo, with its rusticated stone facade and severe, fortress-like presence, remains one of the defining examples of Florentine domestic architecture from the period. Rather than functioning as a house museum or holding a historical permanent collection, Palazzo Strozzi now operates as one of Italy's most important venues for major modern and contemporary art exhibitions, deliberately using the tension between the Renaissance building and contemporary work as part of its curatorial identity.

The building's cortile, an open interior courtyard originally designed for Renaissance family life, now regularly hosts large-scale contemporary installations, so check what's currently occupying that central space before you go, it changes with each major exhibition and is often the single most photographed element of any given show. Because the exhibitions here rotate faster and more experimentally than Florence's historical museums, it's worth checking the current program specifically rather than assuming, based on the building's age, that you already know what you'll find inside.