The Pitti palace, which houses several important museums, was built in the second half of the 15th century probably on a project of Filippo Brunelleschi for Luca Pitti, but was unfinished at his death in 1472. The original building, formed by two floors and the ground floors, with only five windows on each floor, was purchased in 1550 by Eleonora da Toledo, the wife of the Grand Duke Cosimo I de'Medici, thus becoming the official residence of the family. For this reason it was widened and changed, in 1560 by Bartolomeo Ammannati and at the beginning of the 17th century by Giulio and Alfonso Parigi.
Those two architects gave the facade its present day aspect, with the only exception of the two lateral projecting pavilions that were built in the age of the Lorraine family and completed during the first half of the 19th century by Paoletti and Poccianti, who also built the Palazzina della Meridiana, added in the rear section of the palace inside the Boboli garden.
Most of the internal decoration was also executed during the 17th century by Giovanni da San Giovanni, Pietro da Cortona, il Volterrano, Antonio Domenico Gabbiani and Sebastiano Ricci.
As regards the domestic life inside the palace, we know that it was the home of several components of the family who were distributed in different private apartments. The rooms on the left wing belonged to the Grand Duke, while those on the right side were used by the heir. The lateral wings housed the apartments of their wives. The rooms on the second floor contained the large library, while the side rooms were used for the children. The left side on the ground floor housed the apartment that the Grand Duke used in summer.

Palatina Gallery

The Palatina Gallery takes its name from the fact that it is located in the palace (Pitti palace) of the reigning family and was opened to the pubblic by the House of Lorraine in 1828. Even today it still preserves the typical layout of a private collection, with a sumptuous combination of lavish interior decoration and the original rich picture frames.Unlike most of the museums reorganised in recent times, the Palatine Gallery does not follow a chronological order nor schools of paintings, revealing instead the lavishness and personal taste of the inhabitants of the palace. The rooms that house the gallery can be entered from the staircase erected by Ammannati. At the time of the Medici, these rooms formed the apartments of the Grand Duke and his audience rooms. They are partially frescoed by Pietro da Cortona (1596-1669) with an imposing decorative cycle that makes use of classical myth to allude to the Life and education of the Prince. This complex of frescoes and stuccoes, perhaps the most representative example of Florentine Baroque, provides a splendid framework for the displayed works ranging from the 16th to the 17th centuries. One of the most significant groups of works of the collection is formed by the works of Titian and Raphael, which were received by the Medici through the will of Vittoria della Rovere, the last daughter of the Dukes ol Urbino and wife of Ferdinando II de' Medici. It is sufficient to remember the Portrait of a gentleman and Magdalene by Titian and the Madonna of the Grand Duke, the Madonna of tha Chair and the portrait of Maddalena Doni by Raphael. The Palatine Gallery also offers a full view of 1 7th century European painting, displaying very famous works like the paintings of Rubens (The four Philosophers,The Allegory of war), the portrait of Cardinal Bentivoglio by Van Dyck, the portraits by Giusto Sustermans, which portray some of the personalities of the grand ducal family, the Madonna with Child by Murillo, the Sleeping Cupid by Caravaggio, and other portraits by Frans Pourbus or Velazquez. There are also older works, all very exceptional, painted by Bronzino, Fra Bartolomeo, Piero del Pollaiolo and Filippo Lippi. Some of the most important rooms, from an historical and artistic point of view, are the Music Room decorated and furnished in a neo-classic style; the Putti room entirely dedicated to Flemish painting and the Stove room, a masterpiece by Pietro da Cortona who painted it in 1637 with the Four Ages of Man, commissioned by the Medici, which represented the inauguration of the Baroque season for the Florentine painting school.

The Royal Apartments

The Royal Apartments  take up the right wing of the main floor of the Pitti Palace and are an important record of the history of the palace over three subsequent historical periods.
To the first period (mid-16th century - end of 17th century), characterised by the sumptuousness of the Medici court, belong the rooms along the façade that were specifically built for the heir. The corresponding rooms on the side were destined to his wife. Today, they retain the layout given by the Grand Prince Ferdinando dei Medici who lived in this palace until he died (1713). There are still a few treasures from the Medici period, including the precious ebony and semi-precious stone cabinet that belonged to the Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere, the wife of Ferdinando II (17th century) and the chapel, once the bed alcove of the Grand Prince Ferdinando.
Its late 17th century character is still evident in the stucco decoration and in the gilded inlaid work by G. Battista Foggini (1652-1725) and the "Madonna" by Carlo Dolci (1616-1686) with its precious frame. After the extinction of the Medici dynasty (1734), the apartments passed to the reigning House of Lorraine and were therefore restored and re-furnished according to the changing taste of the period. To this period belong many of the ceilings decorated with stucco and representing neo-classical subjects and the oval room, known as the ,,Queen's Dressing Room", with light hand-embroidered silk panels to the designs of Ignacio Pellegrini and a ceiling decorated with coloured Rococo stucco, typical of the 18th century.
At the time of Italy's Unification and when Florence was briefly chosen as capital of Italy (1866-70), the Apartments were used by King Victor Emanuel II of Savoy. Some rooms were entirely refurnished and carpeted according to the taste of the period, as the mid 19th century Baroque red damask in the throne room shows.
The three different styles that correspond to three different historical periods, are harmoniously balanced in these precious rooms that were reopened to the public in 1993 after the restoration and general reorganisation of the inventory of the Pitti Palace, performed in 1911, that gives us an idea of its appearance before its transfer to the State (1914). In addition to the above-mentioned rooms, it is worth visiting also some of the rooms located on the sides of the first group, like the Room of Bona" frescoed by Bernardino Poccetti in 1608, and the ,,White Room", which was entirely decorated with stuccoes by Grato Albertolli during the reign of the House of Lorraine.

Boboli garden
Boboli garden that extends from the hill behind the Pitti Palace as far as Porta Romana, reached its current extension and appearance, becoming one of the largest and most elegant Italian style gardens, through several stages of enlargement and restructuring work carried out at different times.
The first works initially affected the area that was closer to the palace, after the buildung had been purchased by Cosimo I de´ Medici and by his wife Eleonora di Toledo, who had chosen this place for new grand ducal palace. The initial plan was drawn by Niccolò Tribolo, although the works were completed, after his death in 1550 by other architects including also Giorgio Vasari (from 1554 to 1561) along with Bartolomeo Ammannati and Bernardo Buontalenti under the reign of Francis I, who succeeded to his father Cosimo.
The Medici and the Lorraine families continued to enrich and enlarge the garden also in 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Besides adding lovely meadows, avenues, small groves and beautiful panoramic views, they made the garden more precious by including extraordinary decorative complexes, thus forming an outdoor museum that exhibited both Roman and 16th and 17th century statues.
The first phase led to the creation of an "Amphitheatre" adjoined to the hill behind the palace. The early amphitheatre, initially formed by “edges and evergreen meadows”, was later replaced by a stone one decorated with statues based on Roman myths such as the Fountain of the Ocean sculptured by Giambologna, then transferred to another location within the same garden, the small "Grotto of Madama", and the "Large Grotto", which has begun by Vasari and ended by Ammannati and Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593. Despite the fact that it is currently undergoing complex restoration work (1998) due to the damages suffered over centuries these statues continue to be remarkable examples of Mannerism architecture and culture. Decorated internally and externally with stalatites and originally equipped with water plays and a luxuriant vegetation, the fountain is divided into three main sections. The first one was frescoed to create the illusion of a natural grotto, that is a natural refuge to allow shepherds to protect themselves from wild animals, and originally housed the Prisoners of Michelangelo, which were moved to this location after they had become part of the Medici collection (the original statues have now been replaced by copies). The rooms that follow exhibit valuable sculptures like the "Bathing Venus" of Giambologna and the group of "Paris and Hellen" of Vincenzo de Rossi.