Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence

Palazzo Medici Riccardi is the Renaissance palace before you, created for the Medici family and now serving both as a museum and as the administrative seat of Florence’s metropolitan government. [narrativeExtractEn] Its architect was Michelozzo, who designed it for Cosimo de’ Medici; construction took place from 1444 to 1484. [architect] [articleExtractEn] Read the façade as a carefully controlled ascent: heavy rusticated stone gives way to finer ashlar masonry, while horizontal bands separate stories that become less tall as the building rises toward its broad cornice.

[articleExtractEn] This restrained exterior was deliberate. Cosimo wanted a residence that expressed wealth without appearing excessively lavish, yet the costly masonry itself became a sign of status. [articleExtractEn] The plan includes an open columned courtyard inspired by ancient Roman forms and by Brunelleschi’s work.

[articleExtractEn] During the sixteenth century, street-facing openings were enclosed and replaced with Michelangelo’s remarkable kneeling windows, whose large scroll-like supports seem to carry the sills. [articleExtractEn] The palace passed to the Riccardi family in 1659; they enlarged it and commissioned a grand gallery decorated with Luca Giordano’s Apotheosis of the Medici. [articleExtractEn] So the building’s quiet outer face conceals a history of political power, artistic ambition, and changing ideas about how wealth should appear.