Palazzo Pitti in Florence was commissioned in 1458 by the banker Luca Pitti. Luca Fancelli is generally credited with the original design, though Vasari proposed Brunelleschi, who died 12 years before construction began. Work stopped after 1464, and Pitti died in 1472 with the building unfinished.
The Medici bought it in 1549, and Eleonora di Toledo is named as the buyer. Vasari added the rear block, Ammanati the courtyard and staircase, and the Parigi family extended the facade. The style is Renaissance, with a severe rusticated facade. The principal block covers 32,000 square meters (344,000 sq ft) and has 140 public rooms.
The House of Savoy took it in 1860, and Victor Emmanuel II lived there until 1871. It was donated to the Italian people in 1919. Run by the Gallerie degli Uffizi since 2015, it is the largest museum complex in Florence.
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