Purchased by Michelangelo in 1508, the Buonarroti family subjected the house to various modifications through the course of time. Today it is a museum that houses several masterpieces by the young Michelangelo of outstanding artistic significance, from the Madonna of the Stairs to the Battle of the Centaurs. On the two floors of the museum itinerary, we can also admire paintings, sculptures, majolica ware, and archaeological finds, all handed down through the Buonarroti family.

The magnificent building we see today was conceived in the first half of the 17th century by Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger. The house was decorated by famous artists to glorify the family and their illustrious ancestor. In the "Studio", a rich iconography also presents clear references to science. Domenico Pugliani depicted physicists and herbalists, while Cecco Bravo depicted mathematicians and astronomers. In addition to several scientific instruments including an armillary sphere and a quadrant, the latter fresco also shows Galileo Galilei with the telescope and an open book showing the surface of the Moon, probably an allusion to the Sidereus Nuncius [The Starry Messenger] (Venice, 1610). The book dates to 1633-1637, that is to say when Galileo was still alive and had suffered the conviction by the Court of the Inquisition. The client therefore showed quite some courage in celebrating a man who proved to be in "vehement suspicion of heresy".