FANCELLI, Luca
(b. ca. 1430, Settignano, d. after 1494)

Façade

c. 1457
Photo
Palazzo Pitti, Florence

The Palazzo Pitti in Florence, commenced for Luca Pitti, a wealthy merchant, was attributed to Brunelleschi until the discovery that construction did not begin until c. 1457. The powerful rustication and the grandeur of the superimposed arcades, obviously based on the ancient aqueducts would seem to be alien to the taste of Brunelleschi, but it has been suggested that this dramatic new palace style might somehow be related to Brunelleschi's design for Palazzo Medici that was rejected by Cosimo de' Medici. Others relate the style to the ideas of Alberti; one candidate might be the Florentine architect Luca Fancelli, who was deeply imbued with Albertian ideas, was in Florence at the time, and built much of Sant'Andrea in Mantua after Alberti's designs.

The Quattrocento structure was originally limited to the central seven bays. It was extended during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the Boboli Gardens were developed. It was the official residence of the Medici grand dukes; in the nineteenth century it served briefly as the residence of the Italian monarchy.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.