PITTI PALACE – ( PALAZZO PITTI )

The Pitti palace ( Palazzo Pitti ) was built in 1458 for Florentine industrialist Lucca Pitti. The stone pillars and walls are rusticated and echoed the rough, symmetrical framework of Renaissance architecture. There is a substantial, symmetrical framework, high, broad arches, and a robust, balanced framework.

The building was constructed during the second half of the 15th century. Luca Fancelli, Brunelleschi’s apprentice, was commissioned by Florentine merchant Luca Pitti, an ally and friend of Cosimo de Medici. A major goal of Pitti’s was to make his residence one of the most imposing in the city.

The house later became the property of Eleonora di Toledo, the wife of Cosimo I de Medici and a famous and powerful duchess. With a broad collection of galleries and the spectacular Boboli Gardens, it has become Florence’s largest museum.

The Pitti Palace served as a residence for King Vittorio Emanuele II during the period when Florence was the capital of Italy. The Pitti Palace was donated to the Italian state by his grandson Vittorio Emanuele III in 1919, becoming the city’s museum headquarters.

There are four museums in the Palace today: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes on the ground floor, the Palatine Gallery and the Imperial and Royal Apartments on the first floor, the Gallery of Modern Art, and the Museum of Costume and Fashion on the second floor.