Palazzo Medici Riccardi

The former residence of Medici is the first building in Florence, made in the style of the earlier Renaissance. 

The first project of the palace was made by Filippo Brunelleschi. But Cosimo de’ Medici refused of it because of its pomposity. According to the Medici’s opinion, that palace would attract extra attention to his personality. Brunelleschi was disappointed, and, through hearsay, broke the shown palace model. 

The second project, which was realized, was created by architect Michelozzo. This model had no excessive decorations.

The residence building took 20 years. The facade of a palace looks like a simple quadrangle, but inside of it, the beautiful patio is hidden. There is a lovely garden. Previously, the gardeners cut the trees and bushes in forms of different animals. Now just the citrus trees are grown there. 

 The patio is surrounded by arcades. Over the atrium, visitors can see the sculptures of two Davids: one is a work art of Donatello and the other – of Verrocchio.

The palace itself has 3 levels. The first one is a covered arches gallery with columns, the work of Bertoldo di Giovanni. He decorated the frieze with medallions, depicting mythological scenes and the Medici coats of arms. The feature of the second level is the windows, which are similar to both sides. And the third level is also an arch gallery with ionic columns. Nowadays it is completely glazed.

On the internal side of the palace, the tourists can find a nameplate with the history of the Medici family engraved on it. The walls of the 1st floor are decorated with busts, fragments of reliefs, and the unique Rome sarcophagi of the Medici and Riccardi collection.