The Palazzo takes its name from Francesco di Marco Datini, a merchant of Prato that lived in the late XIV and early XV century. On August 16, 1410 Francesco di Marco Datini died in the house in Prato without leaving heirs, leaving all of his possessions to the Francesco di Marco Home and Cieppo de’ poveri (fund for the poor): “so that forever of its fruits may be fed and nurtured the poor in Jesus Christ.” He left an important testimony of his life made up of account books and correspondence that constitute a substantial foundation today deposited in the Prato State Archive, which is located in that ancient abode.

It is a collection of documents from the low medieval era produced by a group of businesses connected with Datini in the years between 1363 and 1410. The papers testify to the very intense activity of Francesco di Marco and his vast interests in many European cities. While constituting an extraordinarily important documentation for reconstructing the economic history of the period, they also contain annotations about customs and about various members of humankind. Their interest is also due to the fact that through the course of the centuries they have come to us practically intact or with very few gaps.

Over the years the palazzo has been subjected to some modification and has been restored in the middle of the XX century. The building is three stories high. On the principal façade that holds traces of the early XV century frescoes are the doors that open onto the State Archive and the late IV century portal which leads to a courtyard with well, portico and two galleries above; the courtyard and the rooms on the ground floor are decorated with frescoes by various artists, among which Niccolò di Pietro Gerini, who also did the S. Christopher at the foot of the stairs that lead to the upper floor. 

The lateral façade holds a loggia high up added in the XVII century; also dating to this period is the raising in height of the adjacent building, originally a warehouse and now destined to the deposit of documentary materials.

The Primo Conti Foundation is based in the fifteenth century Villa “Le Coste” which was the Maestro Primo Conti’s (Florence, 1900-Fiesole, 1988) home for many years. Bought in 1945, the villa became the Foundation’s head-quarters when it was instituted as the Centre for Documentation and Research of the Historic Avant-garde Movements, in 1980. The centre represents the realisation of a long-cherished dream of Primo Conti “to preserve the record and testimony of the most important innovating movements of the twentieth century”.
The Foundation is divided into two sections: the Museum of the works of Primo Conti and the Archive.
The Museum and the Archive collectively represent a unique centre in Italy for scientifically retracing and reconstructing the activities of the historic Avant-garde movement which came to characterise so deeply the literary and artistic movements of so much of the century. The specific objective of the Foundation is, in fact, the study, promotion and sharing of the artistic and literary heritage linked to the figure of the Maestro Primo Conti, together with promotion of the artistic, literary and musical heritage associated with the whole period of the historic Avant-garde movements. The Museum of the Primo Conti Foundation has brought together sixty three paintings and one hundred and sixty three drawings by the Florentine artist. The works cover a time span starting from 1911, the year of his artistic debut with the self-portrait of surprising beauty and “maturity” of expression, through to 1985. The Museum makes it possible, through the works of Primo Conti, to study the development of the twentieth century artistic cycles in Italy and in Europe. From the momentous turning points in which this century is so rich, the Maestro drew his inspiration. The Museum’s rooms display the progression from his early studies of the human form, to his precocious interest in “fauvist” art, the prelude to a brilliant Futurist career. Conti was able to interpret the most vivid and fertile moods of Futurism bringing to life an anti-academic artistic form which is fresh and rich in poetry. Thereafter, always from positions of earnest and constructive debate the painter kept pace with modern art in its recovery of form and expressive technique. Ever youthful and willing to question the meaning of his works, Conti was an artist who anticipated and lived to the full the artistic and literary spirit of his time. Accordingly the last years of his life were characterised by vivid and lyrical paintings.

Benvenuto Cellini (1500 - 1571), sculptor of the Perseus in the Loggia degli Uffizi in Florence and of the famous salt-cellar (known as Saliera) made for Francis I, speaks of the home and farm purchased in Vicchio in his autobiographical memoirs.

They narrate about his sojourn in Vicchio that, during his stay in the locality, Cellini was invited to dinner by Pier Maria d'Anterigoli, called "Sbietta", and that on this occasion he was offered poisoned food whose effects he had to cure for a whole year. Apart from the biography by Cellini himself, there are few sources regarding his sojourn in Vicchio. The home inhabited by Benvenuto Cellini is located inside the band of walls erected by the Florentines in 1324 to contain the Castrum Vichii, and therefore it is presumable to believe that the building was constructed during this same period.

Today the premises, completely restored, are used by the office for promoting the area (Pro Loco) that also performs the function of tourist information point. The floors upstairs are used for small exhibits of artistic and artisan objects. The planned definitive orientation is to open a professional training course for goldsmiths and for working precious metals.

Enrico Caruso, born in Naples, was one of the greatest tenors of our times. He sang in Egypt, Argentina, and Russia, but his greatest successes came in the United States. In 1906 the tenor purchased the large sixteenth century Villa di Bellosguardo once owned by the Pucci family. It was told that the purchase occurred after a promenade with his lover Ada Giachetti: both of them were struck by the magnificent view and the monumental and scenic park. In 1912 was built the gallery to connect the villa to the adjacent farm. The villa is today property of the City of Lastra a Signa and it is best known for its two gardens, both sloping and adorned with pools, fountains and statues. They constitute a typical example of Italian ornamental gardens with cypress, oak trees, and exotic plants such as the Lebanon cedars. The museum Enrico Caruso is founded on the idea the visitor should live a direct meeting with the artist, in the place of his “spiritual recreation” and displays an extraordinary collection of mementos and relics, donated by the Associazione Museo Enrico Caruso-Centro Studi Carusiani di Milano.

The Palazzo degli Oddi, previously the residence Marini Clarelli, now the House Museum, is located in the heart of Perugia, an area of the city occupied by the family as early as medieval times. Today, it is still one of the most important streets leading to Perugia’s main square. The Palace was built around the middle of the 16th century and was inhabited until 1942. The last owner, the Marchioness Barbara Marini Clarelli (Perugia 1929-2007), a painter, restorer and local historian, declared in her will the desire to establish a foundation that would combine his name with that of her beloved husband, a celebrated art historian, Francesco Santi (Perugia 1914-1993). Her vision was to ensure the Palace remained accessible an a place to study for the history of the degli Oddi family, one of the oldest Italian noble families that had a significant influence on the history of Perugia.

The Giorgio de Chirico House-museum is located on the 4th floor of Palazzetto Borgognoni, 31 Piazza di Spagna, Rome. The artist moved there, together with his second wife, Isabella Far Pakszwer, in 1947 where he lived until his death in 1978.

His move to Palazzetto dei Borgognoni marked an important change for the artist: after years of moving around and living in various Italian and foreign cities, he decided to finally settle down in “the centre of the centre of the world”, a stone’s throw away from the Spanish Steps.

Spread over three floors – two of which are open to the public – the apartment’s first floor features an entrance hall, two living rooms, a dining room and the Foundation’s offices, which, in times past, once contained the kitchen. The second floor is more intimate and creative in nature, owing to the location of Giorgio and Isa’s separate bedrooms and the artist’s studio.

A visit to the de Chirico House-museum provides the visitor with the rare opportunity of experiencing the following three facets of the artist’s life:

Intimate and familiar: the house is filled with original furnishings and personal belongings;

Artistic: the first floor features a permanent exhibition of his paintings and sculpture dating from the 1930s onwards;

Creative: the reconstructed artist’s studio gives the visitor a taste of where and how de Chirico worked for over 30 years. Original picture frames, paints, brushes, antique casts, books – all illuminated by the overhead skylight which provided a direct source of light for the artist whilst painting – successfully revoke the atmosphere in which he worked.

Giosue’ Carducci (Valdicastello 1835 – Bologna 1907) was one of the most famous and admired poets of the Italian Ottocento. He actively participated in the cultural life of his times as critic, scholar, and professor. Carducci was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for his poetry.
The museum is located in the home where the Carducci family lived between 1856 and 1858. In this home the great tragedy of the Poet’s family unfolded: the death for unknown causes of the second-born Dante and, a few months after that tragic event, the death of his father. They were both buried in the old village cemetery, today called “Campo della Rimembranza”. The Poet recalls the event with the famous verses: "O tu che dormi là sulla fiorita collina tosca e ti sta il padre accanto" (Oh, you that sleeps there on the flowered tuscan hillside and your father beside you). In this frame the town council has created a guided path along the family life and the socio-cultural context of Carducci in that period through photographs, reproductions of documents, books and figurative material ad hoc.

Ferruccio Busoni (Empoli 1866 – Berlin 1924), son of father from Empoli and mother from Trieste who were both excellent musicians, received a careful musical education at an early age. A well-known pianist, he lived abroad for many years between Germany and the United States. During World War I, Busoni fled to Switzerland.  He is considered one of the major personalities of contemporary music. Busoni composed four operas, compositions for orchestra, piano, lied singer, organ, and choir.
In the home where the musician was born is the seat of the Center for Busonian Studies. The building dates to the eighteenth century and is two stories high. Each floor holds three rooms. On the main floor is the Center for Busonian Studies and the museum is on the top floor.
The center administrates an archive, the museum and the library, which contains important texts. In the museum on the top floor there are mementos and heirlooms of various types, some donated by the family: a piano on which the Maestro supposedly practiced, a marble bust, manuscripts, original librettos and some autographs. In the museum there are also concert programs and posters of Busonian music festivals.

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 1375), along with Dante and Petrarch, is considered the initiator of the Italian Literature. His works are many, the most important being The Decameron, a frame narrative of 100 novellas. Its taste for adventure and games, the exaltation of human intelligence and cunning, joined with a high sense of the language, make it one of the masterpieces of all times and the first great work in prose of the Italian literature.
The home, an austere little palazzo in terracotta brick, is situated in the middle of Via Boccaccio. The plain façade is interrupted by a graceful loggia opening upon the stupendous panorama of the Valdelsa hillsides sweeping all the way to San Gimignano. The home is now a museum. The main hall at the entrance holds exhibits regarding the life and works of Govanni Boccaccio, his period and the village of Certaldo. In the rooms on the ground floor there are rare and precious editions as well as the autographs of great men that have visited the Boccaccio Home. On the ground floor you may also see an audiovisual about the life and works of the Great Man of Certaldo and about the activities of the Giovanni Boccaccio National Institute that administrates the museum. Going upstairs one finds the large library; open to scholars, it hosts a unique collection of works dedicated to Boccaccio in the Italian language and in various other languages. A selection of these may be seen by all and are shown in a case situated in the frescoed room. This is the heart of the home. Here is the large fresco by Pietro Benvenuti, neoclassic painter, commissioned at the beginning of the nineteenth century by the marquise Carlotta Lenzoni dei Medici, who had the home restored and first donated the library, which has grown over the decades. On the top floor it is possible to visit the beautiful loggia that faces the stupendous panorama of the Valdelsa.

Raffaele Bendandi was born into a family of humble workers on October 17th 1893 in Faenza. He attended only primary level school before starting to work as a clockmaker. After a short while he changed his job by learning the art of wood carving. Self-taught, always eager to improve, day by day he enriched his library with tomes that are witnesses of his great effort and committment still today. Bendandi based his seismology on a single fundamental hypothesis: earthquakes are caused by the attractive forces exerted by planets on Earth and the additional effect of Moon’s gravitational pull. He was able to deduct the existence of other four trans-Neptunian planets beyond the already known planets of the Solar system. Already in the twenties he staged a “geodynamic” observatory, and, at the same time, he was building seismographs which he also sold abroad. Bendandi was following his dream: to be able to predict the happening of the, often tragic, natural calamities known as earthquakes. He also broadened his research field to the cosmic influences. He found out that the Sun, with its manifold radiations, is the ultimate regulator of the whole planetary activity and that it stands as the main cause and main regulator of every physical, electrical, etc. process. According to Bendandi it does exist a predominant solar influence on human health and a marked influence on brain cells of deviants and madmen. The latter, therefore, tend to become dangerous during periods of cosmic crisis in Bendandi’s opinion. He died on 1st November 1979 in his residence in Via Manara, Faenza.

The “Bendandiana” Association, created in 1983 to honour the memory of Raffaele Bendandi, includes in its aims:

- The promotion of initiatives aimed to foster the study and the valorisation of Bendandi’s work;
- To support research projects in geophysics and in every other scientific field pertinent with Bendandi’s own research;
- To collaborate in the proper functioning and activity of the Observatories;
- To organize any possible initiative aimed to attract young people toward scientific research topics.

The tour of the House is articulated in three thematic areas:

- The Bendandi’s Museum
- The permanent planetarium
- Earthquakes: information and prevention.