Palazzo Pitti

In 1300 and then in 1400 great noble buildings were built, among these: Palazzo Pitti, wanted by the merchant Luca Pitti. He wanted it so beautiful and elegant that it was supposed to make his eternal rival Cosimo dè Medici very jelous. He succeeded because at the time it was the biggest and most sumptuous building in Florence.

Building began after 1457 by Luca Fancelli in accordance with designs by Brunelleschi. In 1465 work was interrupted when Luca Pitti found himself in economic difficulty.

It was enlarged during the successive century and also with the last addition in 1620 by G. Parigi. In 1783 and 1819 two wings were added with portico's and lodges for a total area of 32,000 sq.m.

During the XVI century the Giardino di Boboli was added. Begun by Tribolo, it was one of the first Italian-style gardens, embelished with antique statues.

Nowadays it hosts the Museo degli Argenti with collections of gems, precious stones, and gold, the Museo d'Arte Moderna, the Galleria Palatina where one can admire over 500 paintings by very famous artists of the like of: Tiziano (La bella and Il concerto), Goya, Tintoretto (La Madonna del granducato and La Velata), Raffaello, Giorgione, Velasquez, Botticelli, Bernini, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Caravaggio.

Palazzo Pitti is also seat of the Museo delle Carrozze and of the Appartamenti Ex Reali.

The facade of the building is of rustic stone, inside the Ammannati courtyard dates back to 1558. In 1565 the Corridoio Vasariano was built by Vasari which connects Palazzo Pitti with the Uffizi, crossing the Ponte Vecchio and passing by the Chiesa di Santa Felicita, through to the other side of the Arno river.

The rooms inside are in Baroque and Rococò style, work of Pietro da Cortona.