Le origini del ristorante

The Pennello restaurant opened in Florence on the site of the historic eating place of Mariotto Albertinelli who, as Vasari says in his Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects,
……..taking a dislike to the mental
exertion necessary to painting, being also often
stung by the tongues of other painters, as is their
way, he resolved to give himself to a less labo-
rious and more jovial profession, and so opened a
hostelry outside the gate S. Gallo, and the tavern
of the Dragon at the old bridge. This life he
led for many months…
The tavern was located near the Ponte Vecchio but, since the headquarters of the guards was found in the nearby Torre degli Amidei, it did not have a large clientele.  It was thus relocated near the San Gallo Gate, outside of the city walls, but here too it had little success.  Albertinelli was forced therefore to move his tavern to the city centre and the new site chosen was Piazza San Martino, near Dante’s House and the Torre della Castagna, in premises left vacant by a failed wool shearer.
The Tavern’s clientele included Giuliano Bugiardini and Innocenzo da Imola, students of Albertinelli, as well as Benvenuto Cellini, Michelangelo, Maso Manzuoli, Pontormo and Andrea del Sarto.
In 1886 Giuseppe Aiolli, born near the hills between Florence and Arezzo, opened a restaurant on the site of Albertinelli’s tavern and, in remembrance of the famous artist who was once the owner, he called it Pennello (Paint Brush).  In 1911 he had a 14th century style loggia built on the outside and affixed a terracotta medallion in remembrance of the artist.
Source: Wikipedia

Il medaglione di terracotta all'ingresso del locale

Egisto Sarri

(Figline valdarno 1837 – Firenze 1901)

He studied at the academy of Fine Arts in Florence, had Giuseppe Bezzuoli and Enrico Pollastrini as his teachers, and was also an excellent student of Antonio Ciseri’s. He had an academic education and his method of painting was not influenced  by the Macchiaioli’s revolutionary change in style. Therefore his career never underwent any changes: the subjects of his painting were historical compositions, Pompeian scenes and a good number of portraits of contemporary persons.
However, even though he was never influenced by the Macchiaioli themes, it is undeniable that Sarri was always a top quality painter with a  great “poetical” personality. His canvas ‘Corradino di Svevia’ is a great historical work on display at the Uffizi Gallery. When painting portraits Sarri is clearly influenced by Ciseri’s teaching, but he still always manages to give his works a personal touch, with a high level of expressiveness.  Even in the so-called “Pompeian”, painted according to the fashion of the time, Sarri offers an intimate style reminiscent of a Lega or Borrani work.

Source: www.800artstudio.com

Quadro originale di Egisto Sarri

La casa di Dante

Popular tradition insists that the birth place of the poet is in the vicinity of the Torre della Castagna (the ‘Chestnut Tower’), with it’s block of humble and “forgotten” buildings, the place where Dante’s house can be found.

In 1865, on the occasion of the six hundredth anniversary of the birth of Dante, the municipal council in Florence formed a commission composed of the historians Frullani and Gargani, in order to locate the precise whereabouts of the Alighieri houses.
After a great deal of research, and inspired by irrefutable archive documents, the commission identified the Alighieri houses as being exactly where tradition had placed them.  Having thus resolved the question of “where” the Alighieri houses were located, the architect Falcini was charged with carrying out all the necessary architectural studies to establish “how” the buildings would have appeared during Dante’s time.

The City of Florence

“Since everything relating to the Divine Poet (Dante) is by necessity sacred to Italians”, negotiations to purchase the houses begin.  There is also the intention of renovating them and restoring as much as possible of their original condition… but the economic conditions of the period lead to the decision being suspended.

Only in 1911 did the municipal authorities in Florence begin the task of “renovation and rebuilding”  Dante’s House, entrusting the architect Castelluci with the job: the houses on the corner are demolished to make way for a little square, knocking down all the elements that Falcini had previously considered as not belonging to the Alighieri house.  After demolition it is necessary to carry out an “architectural recomposition” based on a set of hypothetical plans for reconstruction.
If, in some senses, the intervention is considered controversial due to the amount of license exercised and for the majesty of this “excellent place”, it has the undeniable merit of fitting in, as one of the best examples, with the Revival movement in architecture.

Source: www.museocasadidante.it

Il Museo della Casa di Dante