The Florian, with its international clientele, had become a meeting place for many French Jacobins, so the State Inquisitors obliged Valentino Francesconi to close the café.

In the 19th century, the Florian played a role in the Italian Risorgimento because the "Senate Hall" was the meeting point for a group of Venetian patriots.

The Sala del Senato (Senate Hall) was decorated by Giacomo Casa with the paintings “The Age of Enlightenment, or Progress” “Civilization educating the nations”, and eleven panels representing Arts ad Sciences.

In 1872 another two great halls were added to the café; The Sala degli Uomini Illustri (Hall of the Illustrious Men) was decorated by Giulio Carlini with paintings of ten notable Venetians: Goldoni, Marco Polo, Titian, Francesco Morosini, Pietro Orseolo, Andrea Palladio, Benedetto Marcello, Paolo Sarpi, Vettor Pisani and Enrico Dandolo.

From 1893, at the prompting of Ricardo Selvatico who had been inspired while dining in the Senate Hall, the Florian became home to the Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Contemporanea (International Exhibition of Contemporary Art), an ever-changing display of work from the artists of the time, known today as the Venice Biennale.

In the early twenty-first century, Florian experimented with branching out of Venice and opened a location on Via del Parione in the centre of Florence.