From Nov. 6, 2025 to Jan. 6, 2026, the Sala dei Gigli in Palazzo Vecchio will host the exhibition Boccaccio politico per la città di Firenze, an exhibition project that rereads the figure of the author of the Decameron in its public, civic and institutional dimensions. Promoted by the City of Florence and organized by Fondazione MUS.E on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of the writer’s death, the exhibition is curated by Lorenzo Tanzini with the scientific coordination of Carlo Francini and Valentina Zucchi, and enjoys the patronage ofEnte Nazionale Giovanni Boccaccio, with the collaboration of theFlorence State Archives.
The exhibition invites visitors to rediscover Giovanni Boccaccio as a leading figure in the political and administrative life of the City of Florence in the 14th century. Through a selection of documents, manuscripts and iconographic evidence, the itinerary highlights the most remarkable episodes of his public career, including diplomatic assignments, official missions and civil functions. The goal is to restore the face of a writer who, in addition to literature, contributed in concrete ways to the government and civic identity of his city. The venue chosen for the exhibition, the Sala dei Gigli, takes on symbolic value: here, at the end of the 14th century, Chancellor Coluccio Salutati promoted a pictorial cycle dedicated to illustrious men, destined to inspire the rulers of Florence. Among the heroes and poets depicted appeared Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio himself, a sign of the civic recognition of culture as an instrument of government. The exhibition thus follows in the wake of the project dedicated in 2021 to Dante Alighieri, which had highlighted the link between arts, letters and the common good.
Thanks to loans from the State Archives, the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence and the Biblioteca Capitolare in Verona, the exhibition delves into the political culture of Boccaccio’s time, when civic engagement was perceived as a collective duty and a distinctive sign of belonging. The exhibition reconstructs the stages of an intense public activity, initiated in the wake of his father, who was the first to obtain Florentine citizenship.
“The spotlight is once again on Giovanni Boccaccio, one of the greatest writers in our history,” said Giovanni Bettarini, alderman for Culture of the City of Florence. “Through documents, rare illuminated manuscripts and iconographic evidence, this exhibition reconstructs the ’political’ face of Boccaccio, showing how his literary education played a key role in defining the civic values of the Middle Ages. We are proud to be able to offer visitors the opportunity to discover Boccaccio in a different light and to reflect once again on the importance of culture. The hope is that this exhibition, capable of showing another side of the extraordinary figure of the ”poet of man,“ will inspire new generations to value our history and roots.”
“Twelve years after the previous experience, which in 2013 saw us organize, again together with Lorenzo Tanzini, an itinerary dedicated to Giovanni Boccaccio in the city on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the writer and poet,” says Carlo Francini, scientific coordinator of the exhibition, “we are back to talk about him and we choose not by chance the Sala dei Gigli in Palazzo Vecchio, the heart, yesterday as today, of Florence’s political life. With this exhibition we celebrate not only the great writer and poet, but the man of culture committed to the service of the community. Through documents and manuscripts, the public will be able to rediscover his role in Florentine institutions, at the origins of that humanistic tradition that saw intellectuals of the caliber of Leonardo Bruni and Coluccio Salutati, become de facto chancellors of the Signoria interweaving culture and good government.”
Boccaccio held assignments of an economic, military and diplomatic nature, representing Florence before European authorities and courts. Among the most important missions were ambassadorships to Popes Innocent VI and Urban V. Documents of exceptional value testify to his active presence in city life: from his tax obligation as a resident of the parish of Santa Felicita to the deed of purchase of Prato by Florence, in which he appears as a witness, to his mandate for a diplomatic mission to the German dukes. Completing the picture are rare illuminated manuscripts depicting Boccaccio in the act of teaching or conversing with sovereigns and scholars, symbolizing his cultural and institutional authority. These include the Philostratus preserved at the National Central Library and the portrait described by Filippo Villani among the illustrious men of the city.
An additional section of the exhibition, set up at the State Archives, houses two exceptionally important artifacts: the purses of the Florentine quarters, used to draw citizens eligible for public office, and the provision by which the government of Florence resolved to bring back to the Duomo the remains of the city’s great intellectuals, including Accursio, Dante, Petrarch, Zanobi da Strada and Boccaccio himself, “to the perpetual memory and illustrious fame” of the city.
The earliest documented appointment was in 1351, when Boccaccio was appointed to the Camera del Comune, an office of political and symbolic importance, custodian of public finances and archives. Military and diplomatic expenditures passed through here, the operational center of Florentine authority. During the same year, Boccaccio was engaged in various ambassadorships to Romagna, Milan, and German princes, including the Duke of Bavaria Ludovico. Particularly important was his assignment to represent the Company of Orsanmichele to deliver a tribute to Dante’s daughter, Sister Beatrice, and his mission to Francesco Petrarch, to whom he conveyed the Signoria’s request that he return to Florence as a lecturer in the city’s Studio. In 1352 he was entrusted with the management of the bread gabella, a strategic role for the stability of the city, which then exceeded one hundred thousand inhabitants. Ensuring the food supply meant preserving public order and collective security. These years coincided with a period of special attention by Florentine institutions to vernacular culture and language. In 1355, the vernacular translation of the city statutes made the foundations of communal law and identity accessible to citizens, in a climate in which literature and jurisprudence shared the same ethical tension.
In his maturity, Boccaccio solidified the link between culture and public life through his reading and commentary on the Divine Comedy, given between 1373 and 1374 on behalf of the city. Those lectures helped define Florence’s profile as a cultural and intellectual capital, inaugurating a tradition that would find expression in the great humanist chancellors: Coluccio Salutati, Leonardo Bruni, and Niccolò Machiavelli. The exhibition interprets this legacy as an invitation to reflect on the relationship between culture and government, in the belief that knowledge can guide political action and inspire civic sense.
“After the project on Dante in 2021, for the Boccaccio celebrations we return to huddle around those exempla virtutum, those examples of virtue destined to inspire Florentine rulers at the dawn of Humanism, placing ourselves in ideal conversation with the illustrious men painted in the Aula minor of the civic palace,” reflects Valentina Zucchi, scientific coordinator of the exhibition. “In addition to the wise use of arms and power, the cycle in fact exalted the Tuscan excellence of poetry, capable of nurturing the common good, presenting among the great intellectuals also our Boccaccio: to him the merit of narrating and vicissitudes of gods and men, but also of committing himself personally to the good fortunes of the city. Our thanks to the scholar Lorenzo Tanzini, who curated the project with care and generosity, and to all the prestigious institutions that collaborated in its development with enthusiasm.”
“The idea of the exhibition is based on the results of Italian and international research in recent years, which has amply highlighted the variety and historical interest of Boccaccio’s public experiences,” says curator Lorenzo Tanzini. “The testimony of the documents and manuscripts on display offers an opportunity to grasp with great immediacy how intensely literary and political history must be intertwined in order to understand the exceptional vitality of the Florentine 14th century.”
Running parallel to the exhibition is a program of lectures open to the public. On Nov. 9, Lorenzo Tanzini will talk about Florentine institutions in Boccaccio’s time; on Nov. 16, Francesco Vossilla will explore the theme Tra veltro e veltro: Dante and Boccaccio and the idea of China; on Nov. 30, Elena Filosa will present Boccaccio as an official of the municipality of Florence; and finally, on Dec. 14, Giovanna Frosini will propose Per le vie e per le piazze di Firenze: Boccaccio e la città. The meetings will always be held at 11 a.m., with free admission.
Two city itineraries, on December 7 and January 4, 2026, will complete the cultural offerings. Promoted by the Florence World Heritage and UNESCO Relations Office, the routes will guide participants through the places linked to Boccaccio’s life and political engagement, departing from Palazzo Vecchio and stopping in the historic center. Participation is free, with reservations required at info@musefirenze.it.
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| Political Boccaccio: exhibition at Palazzo Vecchio chronicling the writer's civic engagement |
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