On the facade of the building in Piazza del Duomo a plaque was placed in 1886 by the will of the Florentine Circle of Artists in order to honor the memory of the great artist Donatello on the five hundredth anniversary of his birth. Donatello’s real name was Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (Florence, 1386 – Florence, 13 December 1466).
IL CIRCOLO FIORENTINO
DEGLI ARTISTI CELEBRANDO
IL QVINTO CENTENARIO DELLA
NASCITA DI DONATELLO QVI
NELLE CASE GIÀ DEI TEDALDI
DOVE FVRONO LE BOTTEGHE
DEL SOMMO SCVLTORE QVESTA
MEMORIA PONEVA IL XXVII DI
DICEMBRE M · DCCC · LXXXVI
THE FLORENTINE CIRCLE
OF ARTISTS CELEBRATING
THE FIFTH CENTENARY OF
BIRTH OF DONATELLO HERE
IN THE HOUSES ALREADY OF THE TEDALDI
WHERE WERE THE SHOPS
OF THE GREAT SCULPTOR THIS
MEMORY PLACED THE XXVII OF
DECEMBER M · DCCC · LXXXVI
OF ARTISTS CELEBRATING
THE FIFTH CENTENARY OF
BIRTH OF DONATELLO HERE
IN THE HOUSES ALREADY OF THE TEDALDI
WHERE WERE THE SHOPS
OF THE GREAT SCULPTOR THIS
MEMORY PLACED THE XXVII OF
DECEMBER M · DCCC · LXXXVI
The same plaque refers to the shops located in the Tedaldi houses where Donatello worked but in reality this building that we see today, Naldini del Riccio, was built in place of what were until 1427 the two houses owned by the Tedaldi family, therefore now disappeared for centuries. On the property passed to the Naldinis, who had bought them starting in 1532, construction began on the current building based on a design by Pier Francesco Silvani (Florence 1620 – Pisa 1685), which was then completed by the architect Pietro Paolo Giovannozzi between 1726 and 1732 It seems that not only Donatello but also Michelozzo (Florence, 1396 – Florence, 1472), or Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi, worked there in the houses that have now disappeared, around the year 1433 and then in 1498 Giuliano (Florence, 1445 – Florence, 1516) and Antonio (Florence, 1484 – Terni, 1546) Giamberti, known as da San Gallo, famous Florentine wood carvers and civil and military architects, paying the rent to Lattanzio di Francesco Tedaldi for the workshop of this house which remained on the southern corner.