Ferdinando II and Vittoria della Rovere
After the death of Cosimo II in 1621, the works at the Pitti continued under the regency of Cristina of Lorraine and Maria Maddelana of Austria during Ferdinando II’s minority. He was only ten years old when his father died. By 1625 the wing to the north had already been completed. In 1631 construction began on the southern wing, toward Porta Romana, and that work continued until about 1640. Twenty years later, an addition containing a secondary staircase was added.
Times had changed significantly in Florence since the beginning of Ammannati’s work many years before. After the magnificent artistic accomplishments of the preceding century, Florence became more and more closed to artistic innovation. The Palazzo Pitti was considered emblematic of the same taste. The sobriety and careful measure that characterized many private buildings in town guided the choices for the new façade of the palace, contrary to what was happening with the decoration inside the palace and in the design for the Boboli garden. For the decoration of some of the public rooms and the precious, hidden mezzanines, the Medici turned to Pietro da Cortona, one of the greatest figures of the Italian Baroque. But it is significant that a project for a new facade by the same Pietro da Cortona remained a dead letter, perhaps because it was too bold with respect to the traditional canons of Florentine architecture.
High-ranking guests were assigned rooms on the piano nobile on the south side of the courtyard, with its large central room (later the Sala Bianca) and other rooms frescoed with allegories of the virtues. A proper army of maids, guards, valets, pages, and various other servants filled the rooms on the mezzanine. Even Francesco Redi, the scientist and poet, was housed for a while at the Pitti.
While the Medici court had lost much of its political importance, it remained a significant center both culturally and artistically in Italy. Ferdinando II and his brothers, Cardinal Giovan Carlo and Cardinal Leopoldo, were great supporters of both science and the arts, to say nothing of theater, music, and literature. In the scientific area, the Accademia del Cimento brought together the Pitti scholars like Evangelista Torricelli, Vincenzo Viviani, Francesco Redi, and Lorenzo Magalotti. In the field of music, the Accademia degli Immobili supported the extraordinary experience of the Camerata de’Bardi . Giovan Carlo promoted the construction of the Pergola Theater, Ferdinando Tacca’s masterpiece, inaugurated in 1658. Artistically, the three brothers contributed handsomely to the growing artistic patrimony that would become the nucleus of future museum collections in Florence. Also in 1568 a new amphitheater in stone was built in Boboli Garden, replacing the grassy amphitheater that is visible in the Uten's Lunetta.
In 1628 Ferdinando II assumed the throne, ending the regency of his grandmother and mother. In 1634 at age 23, he married Vittoria della Rovere, the daughter of Claudia de’Medici (daughter of Ferdinando I) and heiress to the Duchy of Urbino. The wedding was not official until 1637. Ferdinand's marriage to his first cousin was hardly a surprise. Vittoria was betrothed to Ferdinand when she was just one year old, upon the death of her father, Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, in 1623. At that time, her mother sent Vittoria back to Florence to be raised by her grandmother, Cristina of Lorraine. During the long reign of Ferdinando II and Vittoria, the palace reached its maximum splendor, even if their marriage was not perfect. The principal rooms were enriched with important frescoes by Pietro da Cortona. At the same time important additions were made to the Medici collections. Vittoria brought with her as a part of her dowry the extraordinary della Rovere collection of paintings. (See: "Vittoria's Collection". ) The court at that time, not counting the grand ducal family, consisted of about 160 persons, including waiters, pages, various servants and various other members of the grand ducal court. For more information on life in Ferdinando's court. (See: "Uses and Customs".)
On the ground floor, there were the summer apartments, while the winter apartments were on the piano nobile, and the apartments “per I Mezzi Tempi” were on the second floor. Ferdinando II and Vittoria had their apartments of the left side (northern side) of the palace. There were great public receiving rooms on the ground floor, with their impressive dimensions and splendid frescoes by Giovanni di San Giovanni and the Bolognese painters Mitelli and Colonna. Pietro da Cortona's first commission from the Medici came in 1637 for the walls of the grand duke's private bath, the Stove Room (Sala della Stufa). The commission was something of a test for the young painter from Rome. Afterward, in 1641 and 1642, he and Ciro Feri worked on the grand public rooms of the piano nobile, named for four planets. At the same time, Baldassarre Franceschini, called Il Volterrano, decorated the winter apartments of the grand duchess.
While Ferdinando II’s sisters left the palace as soon as they could, his brothers always maintained apartments there. Two of them, Leopoldo and Giovan Carlo, were destined for ecclesiastical careers and managed to obtain the red hats of cardinals, thoguh their careers were more political than spiritual. Their lives were not much different from those of the other princes. Giovan Carlo kept apartments on the ground floor and at the furthest end of the piano nobile of the north wing. This included the mezzanine in between, called the “mezzanine della Muletta”, where the cardinal commissioned works by Pietro da Cortona from 1640 to 1650. Here, a series of rooms facing the courtyard at the level of the garden, Pietro created a sort of grotto.
Times had changed significantly in Florence since the beginning of Ammannati’s work many years before. After the magnificent artistic accomplishments of the preceding century, Florence became more and more closed to artistic innovation. The Palazzo Pitti was considered emblematic of the same taste. The sobriety and careful measure that characterized many private buildings in town guided the choices for the new façade of the palace, contrary to what was happening with the decoration inside the palace and in the design for the Boboli garden. For the decoration of some of the public rooms and the precious, hidden mezzanines, the Medici turned to Pietro da Cortona, one of the greatest figures of the Italian Baroque. But it is significant that a project for a new facade by the same Pietro da Cortona remained a dead letter, perhaps because it was too bold with respect to the traditional canons of Florentine architecture.
High-ranking guests were assigned rooms on the piano nobile on the south side of the courtyard, with its large central room (later the Sala Bianca) and other rooms frescoed with allegories of the virtues. A proper army of maids, guards, valets, pages, and various other servants filled the rooms on the mezzanine. Even Francesco Redi, the scientist and poet, was housed for a while at the Pitti.
While the Medici court had lost much of its political importance, it remained a significant center both culturally and artistically in Italy. Ferdinando II and his brothers, Cardinal Giovan Carlo and Cardinal Leopoldo, were great supporters of both science and the arts, to say nothing of theater, music, and literature. In the scientific area, the Accademia del Cimento brought together the Pitti scholars like Evangelista Torricelli, Vincenzo Viviani, Francesco Redi, and Lorenzo Magalotti. In the field of music, the Accademia degli Immobili supported the extraordinary experience of the Camerata de’Bardi . Giovan Carlo promoted the construction of the Pergola Theater, Ferdinando Tacca’s masterpiece, inaugurated in 1658. Artistically, the three brothers contributed handsomely to the growing artistic patrimony that would become the nucleus of future museum collections in Florence. Also in 1568 a new amphitheater in stone was built in Boboli Garden, replacing the grassy amphitheater that is visible in the Uten's Lunetta.
In 1628 Ferdinando II assumed the throne, ending the regency of his grandmother and mother. In 1634 at age 23, he married Vittoria della Rovere, the daughter of Claudia de’Medici (daughter of Ferdinando I) and heiress to the Duchy of Urbino. The wedding was not official until 1637. Ferdinand's marriage to his first cousin was hardly a surprise. Vittoria was betrothed to Ferdinand when she was just one year old, upon the death of her father, Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, in 1623. At that time, her mother sent Vittoria back to Florence to be raised by her grandmother, Cristina of Lorraine. During the long reign of Ferdinando II and Vittoria, the palace reached its maximum splendor, even if their marriage was not perfect. The principal rooms were enriched with important frescoes by Pietro da Cortona. At the same time important additions were made to the Medici collections. Vittoria brought with her as a part of her dowry the extraordinary della Rovere collection of paintings. (See: "Vittoria's Collection". ) The court at that time, not counting the grand ducal family, consisted of about 160 persons, including waiters, pages, various servants and various other members of the grand ducal court. For more information on life in Ferdinando's court. (See: "Uses and Customs".)
On the ground floor, there were the summer apartments, while the winter apartments were on the piano nobile, and the apartments “per I Mezzi Tempi” were on the second floor. Ferdinando II and Vittoria had their apartments of the left side (northern side) of the palace. There were great public receiving rooms on the ground floor, with their impressive dimensions and splendid frescoes by Giovanni di San Giovanni and the Bolognese painters Mitelli and Colonna. Pietro da Cortona's first commission from the Medici came in 1637 for the walls of the grand duke's private bath, the Stove Room (Sala della Stufa). The commission was something of a test for the young painter from Rome. Afterward, in 1641 and 1642, he and Ciro Feri worked on the grand public rooms of the piano nobile, named for four planets. At the same time, Baldassarre Franceschini, called Il Volterrano, decorated the winter apartments of the grand duchess.
While Ferdinando II’s sisters left the palace as soon as they could, his brothers always maintained apartments there. Two of them, Leopoldo and Giovan Carlo, were destined for ecclesiastical careers and managed to obtain the red hats of cardinals, thoguh their careers were more political than spiritual. Their lives were not much different from those of the other princes. Giovan Carlo kept apartments on the ground floor and at the furthest end of the piano nobile of the north wing. This included the mezzanine in between, called the “mezzanine della Muletta”, where the cardinal commissioned works by Pietro da Cortona from 1640 to 1650. Here, a series of rooms facing the courtyard at the level of the garden, Pietro created a sort of grotto.
If Giovan Carlo interested himself in architectural creations, Leopoldo produced the great collection of objects and works of art, located in part in his rooms on the ground floor adjacent to Giovan Carlo’s apartment, but above all in the winter apartment on the second floor.
The other brother, Mattias, was, instead, a soldier, commanding the Tuscan troops and governing Siena. When he traveled to the Pitti, he resided in rooms on the ground floor and the second floor, on the right side (southern side) of the building.
In 1661 Florence celebrated the marriage of Cosimo III, the elder son of Ferdinando II, to Margherita Lousia d’Orleans. They took up residence in apartments on the ground floor in the right wing of the palace. Jacopo Chiavistelli decorated their apartment with frescoes depicting mythological subjects and celebrating the virtue and glory of princes. They had additional quarters on the second floor in the last three rooms on the northern side facing the piazza. It was here that Cosimo’s very rich library was located. Also on the second floor were apartments for Francesco Maria, Cosimo’s younger brother born in 1661. Like many other cadet members of the Medici family, he was originally destined for an ecclesiastical career, though he gave that up to marry Eleonora Gonzaga in a futile attempt to assure the succession of his family.
Marco Chiarini, ed., Palazzo Pitti: l'arte e la storia; Nardine Editore; Florence; 2000-2003.
The other brother, Mattias, was, instead, a soldier, commanding the Tuscan troops and governing Siena. When he traveled to the Pitti, he resided in rooms on the ground floor and the second floor, on the right side (southern side) of the building.
In 1661 Florence celebrated the marriage of Cosimo III, the elder son of Ferdinando II, to Margherita Lousia d’Orleans. They took up residence in apartments on the ground floor in the right wing of the palace. Jacopo Chiavistelli decorated their apartment with frescoes depicting mythological subjects and celebrating the virtue and glory of princes. They had additional quarters on the second floor in the last three rooms on the northern side facing the piazza. It was here that Cosimo’s very rich library was located. Also on the second floor were apartments for Francesco Maria, Cosimo’s younger brother born in 1661. Like many other cadet members of the Medici family, he was originally destined for an ecclesiastical career, though he gave that up to marry Eleonora Gonzaga in a futile attempt to assure the succession of his family.
Marco Chiarini, ed., Palazzo Pitti: l'arte e la storia; Nardine Editore; Florence; 2000-2003.