Work on the Palazzo Pitti began in 1458 for the banker Luca Pitti. Work stopped after his financial losses, and he died in 1472 with the building unfinished. Vasari proposed Brunelleschi as architect, but the article says Luca Fancelli is generally credited today. The palace is mainly Renaissance, and its rusticated stonework and repeated arch-headed openings give it a severe look, reminiscent of a Roman aqueduct.
The Medici bought it in 1549. Cosimo I had Vasari enlarge it, more than doubling it with a rear block. Bartolomeo Ammannati created the rear courtyard and a monumental staircase from 1558 to 1570. Giulio Parigi won the 1616 competition and began the north extension in 1618, and Alfonso Parigi began the south side in 1631.
Victor Emmanuel II lived here until 1871, and Victor Emmanuel III gave the palace to the Italian people in 1919. It holds the Palatine Gallery and the Gallery of Modern Art.
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