Palazzo degli Sporti

History and description

The three-storey building, dating back to the 16th century, overlooks both Via dell’Oriuolo and Via Sant’Egidio with its façades with «sporti» on corbels, which are such a distinctive feature that they have given the building its current name. This area houses the ancient homes of the Albizi family which were sold in 1508 when they were almost ruins by Filippo di Michele da Nipozzano (Albizi) to Anton Francesco degli Albizi. Luca, his son, built the palace in its present form around 1532. Over a course of time, the property passed from the Albizi family to the Orlandi family (who were creditors of the Albizi family), then to the Busini family who later inherited it from a nun of the family of the monastery of Santa Caterina al Monte, known as San Gaggio. This proprietorship is marked by the Wheel flanked by the palms of martyrdom that recurs on the doors, now closed, looking both onto via Sant’Egidio and via dell’Oriuolo, as a symbol of St. Catherine of Alexandria.

In the 19th century, the palazzo underwent a chamfer renovation towards Piazza Salvemini to attenuate the sharpness of the sprone which, due to the projections on brackets, made it resemble the prow of a ship. The new façade on this short side, with the exception of the ground floor treated with faux rusticated ashlar in a manner decidedly typical of that period, does not, however, interrupt the unity of the design of the elevations of the upper floors, indicating that the chamfer must have affected only a low building body that presumably determined the sprone with a terrace.

In this house, in 1631, the Bolognese man of letters Agostino Coltellini formed a sodality with the aim of bringing together «in virtuous conversation» the young people who had emerged from the school of Humanities, which from 1635 became the Academy of Apatists. A tradition attributes, without foundation, the palace to Michelangelo Buonarroti, or doubtfully to Baccio d'Agnolo.

The building is currently in good condition following a recent restoration.