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Begun in 1458 from an original design by Brunelleschi,
the architecture was inspired by ancient Roman constructions. An enormous
affair, it was built for one Luca Pitti, a one time friend of the Medici
who became jealous of their power and turned against them. The palace
was a blatant attempt at one-upmanship, but the fortunes of Pitti
soon faded, and the all-powerful Medici acquired the (unfinished) building
in 1540.
It was to become the family seat in Florence and it was Cosimo´s wife,
Eleanor of Toledo (whose dowry paid for the purchase), who was to transform
the hillside behind the palace into the Boboli
gardens.
The complex is home to eight separate museums, the most important of which
is the Galleria Palatina, begun by Cosimo the second in 1620. The gallery
is second only to the Uffizi in importance, and is notable for the works
of Titian and Raphael. Click
here for some images. |
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