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Brunelleschi's Civil Architecture

The Pitti residence stands not only outside the city center, but also outside the main thoroughfares occupied by the principal Florentine palaces. The houses on Via Romana were torn down to make room for the great piazza, the first to stand before a private palace, and perhaps also the first example of Renaissance piazza closed on three sides. The extraordinary dimensions of the palace were made possible by the fact that it stands on rock.

The "muraglia antica" (Vasari, Lapini), recalling in other words the monumental Roman structures, is formed of gigantic blocks which it must have been anything but easy to quarry, transport and set in place. Three portals in a perfectly regular arrangement are set in the facade above the sloping square. The idea of windows that are all alike on all the floors and the same as the portals is absolutely new.

In its form and dimension this single figure which by repetition forms the pattern of the facade was first experimented with in the Palazzo di Parte Guelfa. The stringcourses consist of very narrow balconies, which run from one side of the facade to the other. The three central arches of the first floor were open and corresponded to a loggia in line with a highly unique concept which was to be echoed in Florentine architecture by Giuliano da Sangallo and Buontalenti. On the courtyard there may have been a corresponding gallery overlooking the gardens and the hill.

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