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4. Arte della Lana Palace

A corridor designed by Buontalenti and built in 1569 connecting the two salons Orsanmichele with the Palazzo dell'Arte della Lana, located in the street dell'Arte della Lana. The production of wool was one of the richest of the seven major guilds and in the thirteenth century there were more than two hundred shops and employed more than thirty thousand workers; a number really great for those times.

Like described in a plaque on the wall of this building was the site of Art in the year 1308; the Arte della Lana Palace was restored in 1905 by Lusini, and starting of this date it became the seat of the Dante Society.

Inside the palace we can find frescoes dating back to the fourteenth century attributed to Lippo di Benivieni, Ambrogio Lorenzetti and other artists of the Maestro del Crocifisso Corsi. Other frescoes can be admired in a shop not far, in Calimala street (16-18 red) dating back to the early years of the fourteenth century; in fact, on the wall is a fresco which depicts a phase of wool working attributed to Lippo di Benivieni. Also in the shop next door (number 10 red) there is a tabernacle frescoes attributed to the master of the Bargello in the second half of the fourteenth century, depicting a Madonna and Child with Saints Stephen and Philip.

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