The Podesteria
Dove scorgere il paesaggio della Creazione di Adamo
The Podesteria building takes its name from the Podestà, the highest civil office in the government of a territory during the Middle Ages. The territory of Chiusi della Verna, which together with Caprese Michelangelo formed a single county, became part of the Republic of Florence in 1384. At the time, the Podestà alternated his duties, spending six months in the podesteria of Chiusi and the other half of the year in the praetorian palace of the castle of Caprese. Almost a century later, the Florentine nobleman Ludovico Leonardo Buonarroti resided in this ancient dwelling; during his term as head of the territory, he had a son whom he named Michelangelo.
The first podestà’s house in Chiusi was located to the west of the castle; nearly three centuries later, in 1702, the current one was built in a more accessible position, next to the church of San Michele Arcangelo.
The building is accessed via the entrance facing the street, directly opposite the rock upon which Adam’s body rests in The Creation of Adam, and the landscape that serves as the background for the artwork.
Coming to the present day, the Podesteria building, acquired by the Montini family in the early 1900s, has always been a hub of activity for Chiusi. In the 1940s and 1950s, it served as a warehouse for sharecroppers’ agricultural products and hosted a livestock fair in the adjacent square. In the 1960s, it became a sheep-shearing site for shepherds, being one of the first buildings connected to the electricity grid. Later, it was inhabited by the Nomadelfia community, which had established its base in Chiusi della Verna, and it also became the seat of the Municipal Archives. The ancient rooms of the building then became a stopover point (Punto Tappa) for the GEA (Grande Escursione Appenninica), offering shelter and lodging to hikers. In 2010, the Podesteria Association transformed the building into a tourist and cultural center dedicated to Michelangelo Buonarroti, hosting temporary exhibitions featuring works by great Italian artists such as Michelangelo, Pinturicchio, and Della Robbia.