Exterior view

Raphael was the first to design in 1513-14 a Roman-type palace in Florence, the Palazzo Pandolfini, commissioned by Bishop Giannozzo Pandolfini. As Raphael could not leave Rome, he had Giovanni Francesco da Sangallo supervise the construction which began around 1516. The original client died in 1525 with the palazzo still unfinished and when Sangallo died in 1530 his brother, Bastiano da Sangallo finished the construction.

The façade of the building has an ABA pattern with the pediments decorating the windows alternating after each window. The pediments are also opposite of each other from the first floor to the second. The first floor of the façade continues onto the garden wall that surrounds the private exterior space.

Over half of the complex is an outdoor garden today, which was rearranged and expanded in 1620 when then senator Filippo Pandolfini bought neighbouring property to use to add to the present site. The garden has always been very neat and has evolved from an Italian park to an English park.

View the ground plan of the palace.