For 450 years Sangallo's St Peter's was stored in the Vatican and inevitably became the victim of slow decay. Today, the restored model - four and a half metres high - stands at the heart of the exhibition at the Palazzo Grassi.
A new boutique in the trendy via della Vigna Novella, and a smaller outlet on the corner of the site occupied by the Palazzo Pucci at the via Ricasoli, will in future sell Pucci products and show how to wear them in the 1990s.
Will the RFH ushers be able to cope? The first exhibition to be devoted to the Renaissance genius Leon Battista Alberti opens at the Palazzo Te on Saturday.