Boccaccio as a politician for the city of Florence

From 6 November 2025 to 6 January 2026, Palazzo Vecchio will host the exhibition Boccaccio as a politician for the city of Florence.

Giovanni Boccaccio was a poet and prose writer, an expert in Latin rhetoric, a rediscoverer of the ancients and a tireless promoter of culture. Through rare documents, letters, literary works and several portraits, the exhibition traces the highlights of his political career and invites visitors to discover his civic commitment and the role that this intellectual played in the public and administrative life of 14th-century Florence.

Palazzo Vecchio was not chosen as the exhibition venue by chance: the minor hall of the civic palace, now known as the Sala dei Gigli, originally housed the 14th-century cycle of paintings entitled Illustrious Men — now lost — depicting heroes, rulers and poets, including Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio himself.

The admission ticket to the Palazzo Vecchio Museum includes admission to the exhibition.

For further information, please visit the Musei Civici Fiorentini.