The Foundation, established in 1996 by the will of the antiques dealer Ivan Bruschi, today administered by Intesa Sanpaolo, is based in the ancient Palazzo della Zecca, one of the most important civil buildings in the city as evidenced by the numerous coats of arms on the facade. It is located in front of the Romanesque Pieve di Santa Maria and not far from the Vasari Logge which, overlooking Piazza Grande, form the backdrop to the Antiques Fair that Ivan Bruschi created on 2 June 1968, near the Basilica of San Francesco with the famous cycle of frescoes “The legend of the true cross” painted by Piero della Francesca.

The exhibition itinerary, opened to the public in 2002, includes sixteen rooms distributed over three floors with an installation, curated by the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, which has rearranged, after a careful inventory lasting four years, the extraordinary variety of works and artefacts that reveal the multiple collecting interests of the Arezzo antiquarian. The walls are enriched with engravings, drawings and pictorial works by Bicci di Lorenzo, Neri di Bicci, the master of Stratonice, Sassoferrato, Luca Giordano, Pietro Benvenuti and also works from the circles of Tintoretto and Guido Reni, some of which property of Intesa Sanpaolo on loan to the Foundation.

Archaeological finds from prehistory to classical antiquity (of note are the collection of votive bronzes and terracottas, an elegant Tanagra and the important collection of inscriptions and decorative fragments); sculptures from the Robbia workshop, Embriachi ivories, sacred furnishings, weapons, jewels, glass, ceramics, scientific instruments: all set up with the intention of evoking the suggestions that are usually perceived in the 'houses of life'.