I love art! Pitti Palace

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After a very special lunch I continued my art day visiting PittiPalace, BoboliGardens and the Brancacci Chapel.

Palazzo Pitti was commissioned by Luca Pitti, a Florentine banker and merchant, who, in line with Florentine tradition, assigned the building's construction to a well-known architect, in this case Brunelleschi. However, there are various inconsistencies in the building's style which suggest the architect was Luca Fancelli and not Brunelleschi.

Legend has it that Luca Pitti had the Palazzo built to show off just how rich he was, even if it didn't make him very popular, as a lot of houses in the area were knocked down to make room for his mammoth plan. His ambition was to exceed in terms of magnificence Palazzo Medici-Riccardi for example, his windows had to be at least the same size as the doors of the Palazzo Medici. The size of the huge blocks of unfinished stone, otherwise known as rustic ashlar, were also used to signify strength, wealth and power.

The Royal Apartments begin where the exhibition area of the Palatine Gallery end. They are a series of rooms richly furnished and decorated and were the residence of the Medici family, followed by the Lorraine family and then Vittorio Emanuele the 2nd when Florence was the capital of Italy, between 1865 and 1871.

The furnishings exhibited today date back to the Savoia period save a few modifications.

The rooms, where colourful curtains hang from the windows, most of which were made in France, are filled with decorations, pieces of furniture, paintings, frescoed ceilings and neoclassical stuccos. Here you can visit the Sala Verde - the Green room, the Sala del Trono, the Salone Celeste, the Sala dei Pappagalli, the Chapel Queen Margherita of Savoia's bed chamber and finally, the Oval Cabinet - the Gabinetto Ovale.

Before leaving Palazzo Pitti, you can enjoy a look round the BoboliGardens the only park in the city centre.

The gardens were designed so they would reach some strategic places the Medici family for example would enter the gardens through the Vasari corridor. Set on the Boboli hillside between Palazzo Pitti and the Fortress of Belvedere, the BoboliGardens are without a doubt one of the finest examples in Italy in true Italian style, presenting both natural and artificial elements and creating a veritable open-air museum.

By crossing the Ammanati courtyard within the Pitti buildings and go up the steps passed the door, you will start to get a glimpse of the gardens and from here on your left you can also enjoy a stunning view of the Cathedral's cupola.

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