AMMANATI, Bartolomeo
(b. 1511, Settignano, d. 1592, Firenze)

Palazzo Pitti: Courtyard

1558-70
Photo
Piazza dei Pitti, Florence

The courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti, representing the grandiosity of the late Cinquecento architecture, was added by Ammanati to the original Quattrocento structure after it was purchased in 1549 by Cosimo I de' Medici for his duchess, Eleonora da Toledo. Ammanati had worked in Venice under Jacopo Sansovino, and doubtless had the Zecca (the Mint of the Republic of Venice, built by Sansovino) in mind when designing the Pitti courtyard.