Casa Guidi

In the 17th century the neighbourhood around the Pitti was still a fashionable address, but with Florence's long economic decline, by the 19th century rents for a furnished palace were incredibly low. Shortly after their secret marriage, Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning found one of these, on the piano nobile of the Casa Guidi, the perfect place to settle (Elizabeth, an invalid, had been ordered to Italy by her doctor).

During their thirteen years here Elizabeth became obsessed with Italian politics, and wrote the poem Casa Guidi Windows (1851) in hopes of gaining sympathy for Florence. Robert wrote little during his Florence years, outside of the poetry in Men and Women, but after his beloved Elizabeth died in 1861 after taking a chill, he took their young son and left for London, although Italian subjects would always remain an inspiration.