President: Matteo Bruzzo, 
Vice President: Giacomo Bruzzo jr., 
Founding Members: Elena Bruzzo Roasenda, Giacomo Bruzzo jr., Luigi Croce, Carlo Croce, Marcello Mari, Giorgio Mezzadri, Corrado Papone, Max Rabino Anzi.

We warmly thank all the individuals and institutions who have contributed to initiating, advancing and completing the restoration works of the palazzo.
As children, at Christmas and Easter, our father would take me and my siblings Laura and Benedetto to visit our aunt. She was Giuseppina Podestà, the very old daughter-in-law of the famous mayor, the one after whom the avenue is named, Andrea. I remember her dressed in violet, with a velvet ribbon around her neck, seated in a dark and melancholy sitting room, just as I imagined all widows lived. 
Shortly before I got married, my father began some structural consolidation work on the palazzo and the renovation of the top floor, where I went to live with my wife. 
Thus, every day, for years, I saw the façade, the entrance, the spacious atrium and, at the far end, the nymphaeum, all in a uniform olive-brown colour: everything had an austere and silent air, somewhat decadent yet dignified, but so melancholy. 
I dreamed of light. Then, slowly, something changed. 
New tenants arrived, kind and skilled restorers. With their expertise, we began to strip away the paint covering the atrium and, little by little, a wonderful grey-blue appeared. Like the dawn of a new day. This sparked enthusiasm, and so we continued in the entrance hall and along the staircase. Lunettes appeared with ships and unfurled sails: everything invited travel and exploration. 
A siren's call! One day, three new figures came forward: a slender, eccentric lady with an Anglo-American accent and a disenchanted German intellectual, introduced by a kind and sympathetic companion. They were Mary Newcome and Erich Schleier, eminent scholars, and their friend Beppe Merlano. They told a complex story where the names of Strozzi, Alizeri, Centurione, Pallavicini and other mysterious experts, whose names meant nothing to me, intertwined in a somewhat tangled manner. The ceiling of an apartment on the piano nobile, rented out for years and long used as a storage room, was pierced: a sudden blade of light cast back a stunning flash of vivid red, that famous Strozzi red! We were all seized by an almost frenzied excitement, a joyful madness: to rediscover the past, to shed light on the history of those rooms and then of the entire palazzo. We decided to begin the works, to clean the façade, the inner courtyard, the nymphaeum, the garden. Then a friend, distant for years, reappeared. When I think of the rediscovered Strozzi, I must confess, however, that sometimes I feel sorry for having disturbed the silence and rest of those beautiful figures, men and animals that the artist painted, unaware and unperturbed in their gestures, unchanged forever; but then I console myself and believe that they too are pleased to see how beautiful the palazzo has become again and to witness how many curious visitors come to see and admire them. I like to think that they too have a touch of vanity. I am grateful for the determination and energy with which my wife Elena initiated and supervised the works, and I believe that without her, so much light would never have been kindled. 
It is customary, and I do not wish to forgo this civilised practice, to thank those who have helped me with the entire project, the restoration and the writing of the book that will remain as a testimony. My thanks therefore go to Mary Newcome Schleier, Gianni Bozzo, Francesco Tomasinelli and Beppe Merlano, designers and project directors, to the restorers Giacomo Causa and Stella Boj, with particular appreciation for two of their collaborators, Daniela Russo and Marco Parodi, exceptional in their competence and balance. Special thanks to Max Rabino for the help he has given us.

Matteo Bruzzo