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Between 1508 and 1514 Michelangelo bought five houses located between via Ghibellina and the current via Michelangelo Buonarroti (known as via Santa Maria at the time). The artist lived in those apartments between 1516 and 1525, the year in which he moved in the district of San Lorenzo, to closely follow the works of the Mediceo complex. When he moved to Rome, as evidenced by the correspondence, he wrote several times to his parents, urging them to renovate the properties located in via Ghibellina to turn them into "a respectable house in the city".

This portrait of Michelangelo was commissioned by Ottaviano de' Medici and depicts Michelangelo at the age of 47. There are two copies, one at the Louvre and one in a private collection.

The lead medal was made in c. 1561. This specimen was not included in the collection of four silver and bronze medals, which Leone Leoni had sent to the artist as a gift on the 14th March 1561.

The inscription shown on the medal indicates that Michelangelo in 1561 was 88 years old. But we know that he was born in 1475, so at the time he must have been 86 years old.

The face of this bust was sculpted by Daniele da Volterra, a trusted friend of Michelangelo’s. He was one of the few to assist him on his deathbed and to mold the mortuary mask in 1564.

Daniele da Volterra made six heads of Michelangelo, two of them destined to Leonardo Buonarroti. The sample of Casa Buonarroti was decorated with a sumptuous cloth by Gimabologna.

After Michelangelo's death, the houses of via Ghibellina and the artworks of the great master were entrusted to the only male heir of the family: Leonardo Buonarroti. Mainly known for turning over to Cosimo I de' Medici some of the uncle's masterpieces (like the Madonna della Scala), Leonardo was actually the first one to commit to converting the houses of via Ghibellina in a single noble building. Thanks to him, a first building renovation and the purchase of another adjoining apartment took place. The beloved nephew of Michelangelo was also the commissioner of a funeral monument for the artist in Santa Croce. This last event has been commemorated, years later, by this painting by Tiberio Titi, commissioned by the son of Leonardo, Michelangelo The Younger, who wanted to include portraits of his family in the painting.

These are Leonardo Buonarroti and his wife Cassandra Ridolfi, whom he had married, in May 1553, after a long research for a spouse and under the pressure of his uncle.

These two children have been identified by Steimann as the second and the third-born of the couple: Michelangelo The Younger, 7-year-old, on the left and the 11-year-old Ludovico, on the right.

Michelangelo Buonarroti The Younger (1568-1647) finally put in place the wishes of his homonymous great-uncle. A prominent public figure in the Florentine cultural life of the early 1600s, he designed and commissioned the four monumental rooms of the main floor, where the celebration of his great ancestor merges with the celebration of the arts and of the whole family. The intention of celebrating his family was appreciated also by the Grand Duke Cosimo II who, to remark the enterprise, gave back to Michelangelo The Younger the Madonna della Scala and numerous drawings that his father was forced to give in to Cosimo I. Thanks to Michelangelo The Younger’s diligence and passion, the Buonarroti collections got notably rich: to him we owe, among others, the acquisition of the predella with episodes from the life of Saint Nicolas by Giovanni di Francesco, from Santa Croce.

This intense portrait, made by Cristofano Allori, shows Michelangelo The Younger, Michelangelo's great-nephew and great patron of Casa Buonarroti.

Michelangelo The Younger had his portrait included in one of the monumental canvases of the Casa Buonarroti Gallery. Here, the artist Zanobi Rosi painted Michelangelo crowned by Poetry.

In the background we recognize the client, Michelangelo The Younger, accompanied by the painter, Cristofano Allori, author of the drawing of the canvas, and here honored after his untimely death.

Michelangelo The Younger died in 1567 and was followed in running the household by the nephew Leonardo and his son Michelangelo. It wasn’t until the beginning of the 17th century that Casa Buonarroti got back to being the center of the city’s cultural life. This impulse came from Filippo Buonarroti (1661-1733) who, though not a direct descendant, became owner of the dwelling in via Ghibellina by virtue of his great intellectual gifts. President of the Etruscan Academy of Cortona, he created the archeological section of Casa Buonarroti, enriching its collections with several Etruscan and Roman pieces.

This medal, made by Montauti in 1731, shows Filippo on the recto; on the verso, within a laurel wreath and a cameo head of Minerva, we can read the dedicatory inscription.