Ever since Stanley Tucci delighted American viewers with his 2021 CBS Searching for Italy series, Florence’s buchette del vino, or “wine windows”, have enjoyed a new renaissance. International travellers knock on the wooden doors or ring metal bells to claim a drink, recording the occasion religiously on Instagram and TikTok. But how many of these thirsty types know the backstory behind the buchette?

The exhibition currently being held in the ancient Palagio di Parte Guelfa offers insight into the history and culture of the wine windows. Organized by the Buchette del Vino Association, which was founded in 2015, a reconstruction of a wine seller’s room occupies the centre of the room, while flasks down the centuries, an old stone frame from a former wine window in via Torta and a nail-studded door from a buchetta in via Rondinella are some of the relics displayed beneath the tall coffered ceilings of Sala Brunelleschi.