Chèz les Medicis
[
Maddalena Delli]
Michelozzo began building Palazzo Medici in 1444 for
Cosimo the Elder, who wanted a "sober" family mansion in the immediate neighborhood of the family church of
San Lorenzo. The palace soon became a prototype of Renaissance secular architecture. Since 1540 - when
Cosimo I became Grand Duke and moved his residence to
Palazzo Vecchio first and to
Palazzo Pitti later - the palace continued to be inhabited by lesser members of the family until 1659, when
Ferdinando II sold it to the Riccardi family, who had many alterations made in Baroque style and joined the former Medici building to their nearby property. When the Riccardi fortune waned in the early 19th C., they sold the palace to the State. Since 1874 it belongs to the Provincia.
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http://www.palazzo-medici.it
