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House of Secrets: The Many Lives of a Florentine Palazzo
A look into the tantalizing secrets of Florence's Palazzo Rucellai.
House of Secrets tells the remarkable story of Palazzo Rucellai from behind its celebrated façade. The house, beginning with its piecemeal assemblage by one of the richest men in Florence in the fifteenth century, has witnessed endless drama, from the butchering of its interior to a courtyard suicide to champagne-fueled orgies on the eve of World War I to a recent murder on its third floor. When the author, an art historian, serendipitously discovers a room for let in the house, she lands in the vortex of history and is tested at every turn--inside the house and out. Her residency in Palazzo Rucellai is informed as much by the sense of desire giving way to disappointment as by a sense of denial that soon enough must succumb to truth. House of Secrets is about the sharing of space, the tracing of footsteps, the overlapping of lives. It is about the willingness to lose oneself behind the façade, to live between past and present, to slip between the cracks of history and the crevices of our own imagination.
House of Secrets tells the remarkable story of Palazzo Rucellai from behind its celebrated façade. The house, beginning with its piecemeal assemblage by one of the richest men in Florence in the fifteenth century, has witnessed endless drama, from the butchering of its interior to a courtyard suicide to champagne-fueled orgies on the eve of World War I to a recent murder on its third floor. When the author, an art historian, serendipitously discovers a room for let in the house, she lands in the vortex of history and is tested at every turn--inside the house and out. Her residency in Palazzo Rucellai is informed as much by the sense of desire giving way to disappointment as by a sense of denial that soon enough must succumb to truth. House of Secrets is about the sharing of space, the tracing of footsteps, the overlapping of lives. It is about the willingness to lose oneself behind the façade, to live between past and present, to slip between the cracks of history and the crevices of our own imagination.
- GenresHistoryNonfictionItaly
304 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2020
25 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Allison Levy
10 books13 followersAllison Levy is Director, Brown University Digital Publications. An art historian educated at Bryn Mawr College, she has taught in the US, Italy, and the UK. Allison has published widely on the visual culture of early modern Italy and serves as founding series editor of the book series Visual and Material Culture, 1300–1700, published by Amsterdam University Press.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Allison has a knack for navigating the most historical of cities, for uncovering the curiosities of a place and its people, and for crafting a lively narrative that captures the elusive, the esoteric, or the otherwise dead and buried.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Allison has a knack for navigating the most historical of cities, for uncovering the curiosities of a place and its people, and for crafting a lively narrative that captures the elusive, the esoteric, or the otherwise dead and buried.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 28, 2019
I highly recommend Allison Levy’s House of Secrets, especially if you want a different and fresh perspective on the beloved city of Florence.
In the preface, “Palazzo as palimpsest” is Levy’s succinct description of her narrative about Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, and I could not agree more. Equally sweeping and intimate in its scale, House of Secrets focuses on this unique palazzo to reveal the layers of Florence’s history – political, economic, social, art, and, perhaps most interestingly, family – from the late medieval period to present day. I thoroughly enjoyed how Levy went even further back to explain the Rucellai family’s origins in the sourcing and trade of the lichen-based purple dyes that offered access for the masses to this emblematic color of power. Levy’s discussion of the guild system also was very helpful to put the Rucellai family business and family fortunes (returns from exile, bankruptcy, etc.) into the context of the political and economic power that came from those guilds. Leaping ahead in timeline, I loved learning about Contessa Lysina Rucellai to provide a framework of Florentine history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fascinating, and I want to learn more!
Interwoven with the building’s history is Levy’s personal experience of living in the palazzo during her sabbatical residency. I can totally relate to Levy’s initial curiosity about the palazzo manifesting into a full-blown research project. The historian in me devoured her descriptions of using her scholarly research access at multiple libraries and archives so that she could feed her fascination to learn more about Palazzo Rucellai and the Rucellai clan. I also admired how Levy embraced the serendipity of meeting Lorenzo and learning from her experiences of her time with him. From one Prada lover to another, I salute her!
The book’s organization and content reminded me of other books I have read recently. In particular, Levy’s narrative about the layered history of Palazzo Rucellai reminded me of Coonan’s From Marble to Flesh about the centuries of history surrounding Michelangelo’s David. Also, Levy’s deviation from the original plan for her sabbatical to pivot to the history of the palazzo was very reminiscent of Anthony Doerr’s lyrical Four Seasons in Rome. Both authors fall prey to the power and pull of their immediate surroundings, and we the readers are the beneficiaries of their deep experiences.
When I visit Florence, I pick a theme to research ahead of the trip so as to have a more focused experience. Previous themes have included studies of the Medici family, as well as Medieval Florence through the lens of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Thanks to House of Secrets, learning more about the Florentine palazzo is 100% the theme for my next visit to Florence.
In the preface, “Palazzo as palimpsest” is Levy’s succinct description of her narrative about Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, and I could not agree more. Equally sweeping and intimate in its scale, House of Secrets focuses on this unique palazzo to reveal the layers of Florence’s history – political, economic, social, art, and, perhaps most interestingly, family – from the late medieval period to present day. I thoroughly enjoyed how Levy went even further back to explain the Rucellai family’s origins in the sourcing and trade of the lichen-based purple dyes that offered access for the masses to this emblematic color of power. Levy’s discussion of the guild system also was very helpful to put the Rucellai family business and family fortunes (returns from exile, bankruptcy, etc.) into the context of the political and economic power that came from those guilds. Leaping ahead in timeline, I loved learning about Contessa Lysina Rucellai to provide a framework of Florentine history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Fascinating, and I want to learn more!
Interwoven with the building’s history is Levy’s personal experience of living in the palazzo during her sabbatical residency. I can totally relate to Levy’s initial curiosity about the palazzo manifesting into a full-blown research project. The historian in me devoured her descriptions of using her scholarly research access at multiple libraries and archives so that she could feed her fascination to learn more about Palazzo Rucellai and the Rucellai clan. I also admired how Levy embraced the serendipity of meeting Lorenzo and learning from her experiences of her time with him. From one Prada lover to another, I salute her!
The book’s organization and content reminded me of other books I have read recently. In particular, Levy’s narrative about the layered history of Palazzo Rucellai reminded me of Coonan’s From Marble to Flesh about the centuries of history surrounding Michelangelo’s David. Also, Levy’s deviation from the original plan for her sabbatical to pivot to the history of the palazzo was very reminiscent of Anthony Doerr’s lyrical Four Seasons in Rome. Both authors fall prey to the power and pull of their immediate surroundings, and we the readers are the beneficiaries of their deep experiences.
When I visit Florence, I pick a theme to research ahead of the trip so as to have a more focused experience. Previous themes have included studies of the Medici family, as well as Medieval Florence through the lens of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Thanks to House of Secrets, learning more about the Florentine palazzo is 100% the theme for my next visit to Florence.
March 29, 2020
House of Secrets is quite possibly the finest example of a book that manages to be both a excellent work of architectural and social history AND a delicious, popular page turner. Allison Levy puts both her erudition and her irresistible writing to this arduous task making it all seem effortless. I read this book over a long period of time to savor the passage of time covered in its individual chapters. It is a wonderful vehicle for armchair traveling to Florence, both now and in its past!
July 2, 2019
I just finished reading Allison Levy’s “House of Secrets", and found it enlightening, moving and entertaining. Looking for a place to live in Florence while pursuing research, Levy stumbles across an amazing rental opportunity--a tiny place inside the very most famous Florentine palace, the Palazzo Rucellai.
In a book on the august and famous Palazzo Rucellai by Leon Battista Alberti, one expects perhaps a dry architectural meditation. I was surprised at how much besides architecture was revealed in Levy’s work, and in particular how much her story (because it really is a “story”!) relates to gender. I thought the very brief anecdote about the impregnated 15th century enslaved woman Catarina was very poignant, especially the revelations about how laws concerning such births controlled for the loss of labor or property for the owner of the slave. I was also struck by a somewhat related passage where Alberti is quoted on the architectural need to make the upper class young women’s living quarters as pleasant as possible, since they were essentially imprisoned in them. And finally, I loved Levy’s observations about the way the famous family history that Giovanni Rucellai wrote almost completely overlooked women. In relation to this, she notes that one of the few instances when women were included in this document was the mention of the names of the FOUR wives of the very earliest patriarch —what is not written, I'm sure, is that at least a couple of these women died in childbirth, on the altar of family expansion. This very famous palazzo was, of course, a place where many women lived and no doubt died, and, in unearthing its history, Levy also shows the erasure of women from history.
But to be clear, the book is not solely about women’s history. There is much more. Levy gives us glimpses of the fun and the frustrating aspects of the scholarly life, the idiosyncrasies of Italian living, along with romance and even a hushed-up murder. If you like Italy, architecture, history, glimpses into the academic life, you will like this book.
In a book on the august and famous Palazzo Rucellai by Leon Battista Alberti, one expects perhaps a dry architectural meditation. I was surprised at how much besides architecture was revealed in Levy’s work, and in particular how much her story (because it really is a “story”!) relates to gender. I thought the very brief anecdote about the impregnated 15th century enslaved woman Catarina was very poignant, especially the revelations about how laws concerning such births controlled for the loss of labor or property for the owner of the slave. I was also struck by a somewhat related passage where Alberti is quoted on the architectural need to make the upper class young women’s living quarters as pleasant as possible, since they were essentially imprisoned in them. And finally, I loved Levy’s observations about the way the famous family history that Giovanni Rucellai wrote almost completely overlooked women. In relation to this, she notes that one of the few instances when women were included in this document was the mention of the names of the FOUR wives of the very earliest patriarch —what is not written, I'm sure, is that at least a couple of these women died in childbirth, on the altar of family expansion. This very famous palazzo was, of course, a place where many women lived and no doubt died, and, in unearthing its history, Levy also shows the erasure of women from history.
But to be clear, the book is not solely about women’s history. There is much more. Levy gives us glimpses of the fun and the frustrating aspects of the scholarly life, the idiosyncrasies of Italian living, along with romance and even a hushed-up murder. If you like Italy, architecture, history, glimpses into the academic life, you will like this book.
December 31, 2020
This a fascinating way to approach the history of Florence--through a house and the mercantile family who owned it. Really enjoyed the deep dive into textiles, feasts, architecture, furniture etc.
August 30, 2019
How did I not review this book months ago? I loved it so much that I gifted it to four friends: an architect, a Florentine expat now living in the Bay Area, a sculptor/bibliophile, and another painter who is obsessed with the history behind great art. It is that good and that compelling.
Along with the captivating story of this great house and all its mysteries, you also get a tantalizing glimpse into the life and loves of the author herself. Like the story of the palazzo, Dr. Allison Levy’s life there is revealed in small but intimate ways.
What I loved: well, I’m a proud nerd and big art history junkie, so I was enthralled with each bit of knowledge Levy deftly revealed about Renaissance life and art in Florence over the course of these centuries. She knows so much but is never didactic, and she shares her enthusiasm so lightly, even though she is truly a walking encyclopedia of knowledge.
It isn’t only what she tells; it’s how she tells it. She has a dry and mordant wit and charms with her darkly funny way with words. Speaking of her diagnosis of kidney stones during her sabbatical, she writes, “...high on Lixidol and supersaturated with Acqua Panna, I read up on my diagnosis. An “honourable” malady, wrote fellow sufferer Michel de Montaigne, “it preferably attacks the great; it is essentially noble and dignified.” The affluent, I also learned, were believed more prone to developing kidney stones due to their lifestyle: protein-rich diets, excessive amounts of wine, and “immoderate sexual intercourse” — on feather beds, no less. Sounded like a fair trade-off to me.”
The entire book is peppered with such asides. I know I’d love this woman if I met her, and the intersection of her intellect and humor are what thread this beautiful book together. I’d read anything she writes and can’t wait for her next book.
Much of the art history itself I’d learned years ago in art school and just as promptly forgotten. Levy’s description of things such as the derivation of Tyrian purple (painstakingly extracted from sea snails) was fascinating and reminded me that class distinctions have been around for eons (as if we didn’t know it every day in this world). Considering the tragedy of the women’s line of the Rucellai family being completely extinguished was a relevant reminder to me both as a feminist and woman artist.
I visited this great house over the summer, and although I couldn’t go inside, I tried to picture what it must have been like to live there then and now. Dr. Levy’s time there certainly sounds more appealing than that of many of the long-passed inhabitants, wealthy and privileged as they may have been. I’m so glad she got to live there and then wrote this marvelous book so that I could feel I’d experienced a bit of this adventure too. Grazie infinite, Dr. Levy.
Along with the captivating story of this great house and all its mysteries, you also get a tantalizing glimpse into the life and loves of the author herself. Like the story of the palazzo, Dr. Allison Levy’s life there is revealed in small but intimate ways.
What I loved: well, I’m a proud nerd and big art history junkie, so I was enthralled with each bit of knowledge Levy deftly revealed about Renaissance life and art in Florence over the course of these centuries. She knows so much but is never didactic, and she shares her enthusiasm so lightly, even though she is truly a walking encyclopedia of knowledge.
It isn’t only what she tells; it’s how she tells it. She has a dry and mordant wit and charms with her darkly funny way with words. Speaking of her diagnosis of kidney stones during her sabbatical, she writes, “...high on Lixidol and supersaturated with Acqua Panna, I read up on my diagnosis. An “honourable” malady, wrote fellow sufferer Michel de Montaigne, “it preferably attacks the great; it is essentially noble and dignified.” The affluent, I also learned, were believed more prone to developing kidney stones due to their lifestyle: protein-rich diets, excessive amounts of wine, and “immoderate sexual intercourse” — on feather beds, no less. Sounded like a fair trade-off to me.”
The entire book is peppered with such asides. I know I’d love this woman if I met her, and the intersection of her intellect and humor are what thread this beautiful book together. I’d read anything she writes and can’t wait for her next book.
Much of the art history itself I’d learned years ago in art school and just as promptly forgotten. Levy’s description of things such as the derivation of Tyrian purple (painstakingly extracted from sea snails) was fascinating and reminded me that class distinctions have been around for eons (as if we didn’t know it every day in this world). Considering the tragedy of the women’s line of the Rucellai family being completely extinguished was a relevant reminder to me both as a feminist and woman artist.
I visited this great house over the summer, and although I couldn’t go inside, I tried to picture what it must have been like to live there then and now. Dr. Levy’s time there certainly sounds more appealing than that of many of the long-passed inhabitants, wealthy and privileged as they may have been. I’m so glad she got to live there and then wrote this marvelous book so that I could feel I’d experienced a bit of this adventure too. Grazie infinite, Dr. Levy.
July 3, 2022
I give this 5 for content and research, but 3 for composition. While I enjoyed the alternating chapters of the history of Palazzo Rucellai and the author's own experience while on sabbatical living in the palazzo, the historical thread sometimes meanders and can be a little confusing. The author has breathed life into her academic research, but sometimes it feels she's trying too hard to be clever/cute, or she has not quite conveyed some deductive leap or association that is in her head. All in all, though, it is a fascinating history of an important landmark in one of Europe's most illustrious cities.
August 23, 2023
Under a Tuscan palazzo's spell
Having lived in this renaissance palazzo myself, I can attest to the validity of the beguiling experience so interestingly portrayed by the author. How often has a tourist in Florence felt, "If only stones could talk." Well, here, the ancient stones of the Palazzo Rucellai do tell the tale that the the ears of the walls have heard over the generations of a noble family. A compelling read for anyone delving deeper into the life and times of Florence, right up to the present. This book ought to be attached to the rental contracts for the many apartments in the building. It would greatly expand their appreciation of the experience.
Having lived in this renaissance palazzo myself, I can attest to the validity of the beguiling experience so interestingly portrayed by the author. How often has a tourist in Florence felt, "If only stones could talk." Well, here, the ancient stones of the Palazzo Rucellai do tell the tale that the the ears of the walls have heard over the generations of a noble family. A compelling read for anyone delving deeper into the life and times of Florence, right up to the present. This book ought to be attached to the rental contracts for the many apartments in the building. It would greatly expand their appreciation of the experience.
May 22, 2019
Allison Levy's book is a page turner that offers a fresh, character-driven perspective on Palazzo Rucellai and a raw personal narrative of Levy's time living behind the façade. It's a must read for art enthusiasts, academics, scholars who have ever questioned academia, and/or readers who love gorgeous writing. The story will take you on a journey through the palatial townhouse that visitors ordinarily do not get a chance to see from the inside. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
January 4, 2020
The juxtaposition of the author's own story intermingled with the Palazzo's story was brilliant. The first decades of the Palazzo's history was well told, as was the final chapter in the story. The middle section was more confusing, with time jumping around and going back and forth within the historical narrative portions. Overall, well-done. I wished I had read this before my trip to Florence, not on the way home. But will peruse again the introductory timeline before my next trip.
February 28, 2021
Didn't quite hang together, and there was a lot more time spent on her relationship with Lorenzo than I expected, but it was a fine way to pass the time. I still don't quite understand her fascination with Palazzo Rucellai, which is a shame.
December 19, 2023
I borrowed this book from the Providence Athenaeum. It is a hard book to define - sort of a memoir of the author's time staying in a palazzo in Florence and researching the history of the place. It was a fun and easy read, and fascinating research.
September 22, 2019
Not the type of book that I thought it would be. Didn’t finish it, life is short. I gave it three stars because I didn’t take the time to give it a fair shot, I just knew it wan’t for me.
April 6, 2020
Never quite succeeds in weaving the personal narrative in with the historical one. But some fun Italian tales which I cannot resist.
April 7, 2020
Enjoyable and informative historiography of both the Palazzo Ruccellai in Florence, Florentine history in general, and the author's own sabbatical year in Florence.
March 12, 2023
A little slow, but an interesting history of florence as viewed from the perspective of on Palazzo and the many inhabitants therein.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews