Pitti family
The Pitti were brought to prominence among Florentine merchant families with the support given by Luca (1395-?1470) to Cosimo de' Medici. It is not clear how he accumulated the money necessary to build the Palazzo Pitti (this was in his time, however, only 7 bays wide). Tempted in 1466 to join the anti-Medicean conspiracy to oust Piero de' Medici from the dominant position he had inherited 2 years previously, Luca backed down in time to save his skin but not his reputation. He died distrusted by all parties, nor was any power subsequently exercised in Florence by the Pitti apart from Jacopo (1519-89), a senator and a historical and political writer of some note, who watched his master Cosimo I purchase, extend and move into his family's palace.
