The Horne Foundation Museum has its origin in the last will and testament of Herbert Percy Horne and is made up of a rich collection of art works left, together with the palace in which they are housed, to the Italian State. Herbert Horne (photo 1) born in London in 1864, an architect and a man with many interests in the field of art, ranging from literature to music, took up residence in Florence, once and for all, towards the end of the 1800’s, thus initiating his activity as a collector and a scholar. His essay on Botticelli is still of great interest today.

In 1911 Herbert Horne purchased the palace in via dei Benci, completely renovated, most likely, by Simone del Pollaiolo, also known as Cronaca, towards the end of the 1400’s probably after the property passed from the Alberti family to the Corsi family, cloth dyers. The principal architectural lines of the palace with its two three-order façades are accentuated by the lively presence of the ashlar-work that outlines the doors and windows and emphasizes the building’s sharp edges. Across the internal courtyard that has a three-arched portico on one side only, one enters the basement room that the Corsi family used to wash the fabrics. Herbert Horne dedicated himself with great care to the restoration of his "palagetto"(little palace) with the intent of creating, not a museum, but an example of an aristocratic residence of the Renaissance.

After Herbert Horne’s death in 1916, Count Carlo Gamba and the Superintendent of the Galleries, Giovanni Poggi, completed the furnishing of the rooms, according to the criteria Horne passed on to them. The collection is composed of very valuable paintings, sculptures, ceramics, articles both of jewelry and for other uses, furniture, small plates, seals and fabrics - all, or the majority of which, date back to the 1300’s, 1400’s and 1500’s (photo 2). What constitutes one of the Horne collection’s essential prerogatives is the absolute coherence and harmony which the incredible variety of works and objects have with their expository ambience. In addition, of notable interest, are the stockpile of drawings and prints from the 1500’s to the 1800’s, the valuable archives and most of all the rich library in Herbert Horne’s ideal reconstruction of a cultured and well-to-do Renaissance gentleman’s palace.

essential bibliography

Il paesaggio disegnato. John Constable e i maestri inglesi nella raccolta Horne, catalogo della mostra a cura di Elisabetta Nardinocchi e Matilde Casati, Firenze, Mandragora 2009.


Herbert Percy Horne e Firenze, atti della giornata di studi (Firenze, Fondazione Herbert Horne 2001), a cura di Elisabetta Nardinocchi, Firenze, Edizioni La Meridiana, 2005.


Il mobile del Rinascimento. La collezione H. Percy Horne
Paolini C., Firenze, Editore: Edizioni La Meridiana, 2002

Da Raffaello a Rubens. Disegni della Fondazione Horne
Garofalo C. ( a cura di), Livorno, Editore: Sillabe, 2000, note: catalogo della mostra (Firenze)

Il palazzo Corsi-Horne: dal diario di restauro di H.P.Horne
Preyer B., Roma, Editore: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, 1993

I codici miniati della Fondazione Horne
Castelli M. C., Gardin A., Firenze, Editore: non disponibile, 1990, note: catalogo della mostra

Le carte archivistiche della Fondazione Herbert P. Horne
Morozzi L., Milano, Editore: Bibliografica, 1988

Museo Bardini - Le sculture medievali e rinascimentali
Neri Lusanna E., Firenze, Editore: CentroDi, 1987

Museo Bardini
Boccia L. G., Firenze, Editore: CentroDi, 1984

Il Museo Horne a Firenze
Rossi F., Milano, Editore: Electa, 1966

Medaglie e Placchette del Museo Bardini di Firenze
Vannel F., Toderi G., Firenze, Editore: Polistampa