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THE PALAZZO MEDICI: RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE BY MICHELOZZO
Camden Eckler
World Architecture
November 16, 2017
1
THE PALAZZO MEDICI: RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE BY MICHELOZZO
Introduction
The Palazzo Medici, in Florence, Italy, was commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici in
1444, designed by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, and completed in 1460.1 This urban mansion “was
the model of Early Renaissance palace architecture,” providing a design that influenced the
buildings of other Renaissance architects, including Leonbattista Alberti.2 This building interests
me because it is one of the earliest and most influential Renaissance palazzos, and the minimally-
decorated architecture seen from the outside masks the beautiful courtyard in the center of the
palazzo. Furthermore, the Palazzo Medici not only exhibits prevalent elements of Renaissance
architecture, but uses those elements to convey the sophistication, culture, and strength that were
important to Cosimo de’ Medici’s control over fifteenth century Florence.
Commission and Location of the Palazzo Medici
Cosimo de’ Medici was a banker, eventually becoming the papal banker, a position that
gave him immense power. He used this power to ensure that nobody could challenge his
position, but Cosimo also used his wealth to spread Renaissance art through Florence. “Cosimo
the Elder adorned Florence with fine architecture, villas and palaces, loggias and gardens,”
including his own home. He also funded the construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore,
built by Filippo Brunelleschi.3 Cosimo assigned Brunelleschi and Michelozzo the task of
1 “Medici Riccardi Palace,” The Museums of Florence, accessed November 14, 2017,
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/medici_riccardi_palace.html#up.
2 Philip Mattox and Howard Saalman, “The First Medici Palace,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
44, no. 4 (1985): 329, accessed November 14, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/990112.
3 Frantz Funck-Brentano, The Renaissance, New York: The Macmillan Company, 1936, 49. Cosimo even
contributed to buildings in Rome, Paris (the Florentine College), and Jerusalem. He spared no expense when it came
to the arts.
2
creating competing designs for his palace, and he chose
Michelozzo’s design because he “admired the severe beauty of
[Michelozzo’s] simple design,” for, “though rich and powerful,
he still kept to a modest style of living.”4 Another theory on why
Cosimo desired a simple appearance for his palace is that he was
sensitive to his neighbors and didn’t want to make them feel bad.5
The Palazzo Medici was built on the corner of the Via
Larga, now the Via Camilla Cavour, and Via de’ Gori in the heart
of Florence (fig. 1), with the entrance on the Southeast part of the
building, opening onto the Via Larga.6 The palazzo was oriented
in this direction because the Via Larga led to sites associated with
the Medici.7 Furthermore, this placement allowed for the
formation of the “Corner of the Medici” (fig. 2) at the intersection
of the Via Larga and Via de’ Gori. This corner of the palazzo was emphasized “by the loggia and
coat of arms, as well as by the convergence of two matching, monumental facades,” reminding
onlookers that the building was the home of the great Medici family.8
4 Frantz Funck-Brentano, The Renaissance, 1936, 46-49. Cosimo exiled numerous rival families. He even went so
far as to forbid rival families’ daughters from marrying, just to prevent them from acquiring more wealth and
influence.
5 Charles Burroughs, “Grammar and Expression in Early Renaissance Architecture: Brunelleschi and Alberti,”
Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 32 (1998): 57, accessed November 14, 2017,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20140404.
6 Charles Burroughs, “Grammar and Expression in Early Renaissance Architecture,” 62. There is some speculation
about how, if Brunelleschi’s design had won, the entrance of the Palazzo Medici would be on the Via de’ Gori, so
that the building would face the church of San Lorenzo.
7 Charles Burroughs, “Grammar and Expression in Early Renaissance Architecture,” 57.
8 Charles Burroughs, “Grammar and Expression in Early Renaissance Architecture,” 62.
Fig. 1. Palazzo Medici
Riccardi on Google Maps.
Fig. 2. “Corner of the Medici”
by Michelozzo. Florence-On-
Line.
3
Michelozzo’s Architecture
The distinct and, in the fifteenth century, new architectural style that Michelozzo used in
the design of the Palazzo Medici was inspired by Michelozzo’s involvement with Early
Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi and therefore his exposure to fundamental elements
of Renaissance architecture. In order to understand why Michelozzo designed the Palazzo
Medici in the style he did, it is necessary to explore the Renaissance and architecture of
Brunelleschi.
The Renaissance
The Renaissance is considered the rebirth of art and culture. The source of the Florentine
Renaissance was humanism: “the study of those sciences which advanced the happiness and
perfection of the human race, in contradistinction to theology (now become scholastic) which
turned away from man to God.” The focus of the Gothic period was on holiness and God as
light; the Renaissance was not a complete rejection of this, but it was a shift to focusing on man
as a source of measurement and knowledge. The discovery of Greek and Roman buildings,
sculpture, and philosophy triggered this desire to return to classicism. “Classical thought and
classical languages conquered the minds of the great financiers, and it is interesting to note that
this great movement in literature and philosophy began in the merchant class.” As classical
literature spread, it “seemed to the eager minds of that day the dawn of liberty, new life to a
world in which life was almost extinct.” Despite the intellectual freedom brought by the
Renaissance, classes in Florence became more separated. Most of the people who were active in
the Renaissance were from the middle or upper class.9
9 Frantz Funck-Brentano, The Renaissance, 64-69.
4
In relation to architecture, the Renaissance signified a return to classical architectural
elements, especially columns and arches, and creating attractive buildings through simple,
geometrically- and human-inspired forms:
Renaissance architects rejected the intricacy and verticality of the Gothic style for the
simplicity and balanced proportions of classicism. Rounded arches, domes, and the
classical orders were revived. This revival was accomplished through direct observation
of Roman ruins, as well as study of the treatise Ten Books on Architecture (the foremost
surviving ancient work on architecture, written by Roman architect-engineer Vitruvius).
Renaissance architecture tends to feature planar classicism (i.e. "flat classicism"). The
walls of a Renaissance building (both exterior and interior) are embellished with classical
motifs (e.g. columns, pilasters, pediments, blind arches) of minor physical depth, such
that they intrude minimally on the two-dimensional appearance of the walls. Put another
way, the walls of a Renaissance building serve as flat canvases for a classical veneer.
This contrasts sharply with Baroque architecture, in which walls are deeply curved and
sculpted (resulting in "sculpted classicism"). Planar classicism also tends to divide a wall
into neat sections, using such elements as columns, pilasters, and stringcourses.
(A stringcourse is a horizontal strip of material that runs along the exterior of a building,
typically to mark the division between stories).10
Brunelleschi
Michelozzo was a student of Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi, so his design for
the Palazzo Medici was heavily influenced by the buildings he saw Brunelleschi design.11
Brunelleschi was inspired by the writings of Roman architect Vitruvius and a trip to Rome where
“he decided to rediscover the fine and highly skilled method of building and the musical
proportions of the ancients and how they might, without defects, be employed with convenience
10 “Renaissance Architecture,” Essential Humanities, accessed November 14, 2017, http://www.essential-
humanities.net/western-art/architecture/renaissance/.
11 Cristoph Luitpold Frommel, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance (New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.,
2007), 29.
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and economy.”12 One of Brunelleschi’s first
buildings in the Renaissance style, the Spedale
degli Innocenti (fig. 3), features an arcaded portico
consisting of columns with Corinthian capitals
connected by arches, and medallions situated
between the arches, a style echoed in Michelozzo’s
courtyard at the Palazzo Medici.
Michelozzo as a Sculptor
Renaissance architects were “highly conversant with a
variety of artistic media…these experiences contributed to the
making of buildings.” Michelozzo, along with Brunelleschi and
other architects, worked as a sculptor before trying his hand at
architecture. He collaborated with Donatello on multiple works,
one of the most famous being the pulpit at the Cathedral of St.
Stefano in Prato (fig. 4).13 Knowledge about sculpture contributed
to richer architectural designs, especially on the façades of
Michelozzo’s buildings.
12 Cristoph Luitpold Frommel, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, 13. There are many similarities between
Alberti’s Palazzo Rucellai, including the window design and arrangement of the piano nobile and the upper story,
and the use of stringcourses. A noticeable difference is Alberti’s use of pilasters, something Michelozzo did not
include in the Palazzo Medici.
13 Alina Payne, “Materiality, Crafting, and Scale in Renaissance Architecture,” Oxford Art Journal 32, no. 3 (2009):
365, 373, accessed November 14, 2017, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25650875.
Fig. 3. Spedale degli Innocenti. The Museums of
Florence.
Fig. 4. Pulpit at the Cathedral
of St. Stefan in Prato by
Donatello and Michelozzo.
Wikimedia.
6
Other Works by Michelozzo
Besides his works as a sculptor, Michelozzo also designed
and worked on some other architecture before the Palazzo Medici.
After Brunelleschi’s death in 1446, Michelozzo completed most of
the lantern on top of the dome at the Cathedral of Santa Maria del
Fiore (fig. 5).14 This experience showed in the Palazzo Medici in
the arches, scrolling patterns, and Corinthian order columns in its
courtyard. He also designed the Palazzo Comunale at
Montepulciano in 1440 (fig. 6). The façades of this palace, like in
the Palazzo Medici, distinguished the building’s three stories
through variation in masonry and height. Also, the portal and
windows are similarly arched, although they differ in number.
The exterior of the Palazzo Comunale looks more empty and
bland than the exterior of the Palazzo Medici.
The Palazzo Medici was not Michelozzo’s first job for
Cosimo de’ Medici. By the time he was commissioned to build
the palazzo, Michelozzo had constructed the Church of San
Francesco, the convent of San Marco, and the Medici villa in
Careggi.15
14 Cristoph Luitpold Frommel, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, 24.
15 Cristoph Luitpold Frommel, The Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, 27.
Fig. 5. Lantern of the dome of
the Florence Cathedral by
Brunelleschi and Michelozzo.
“Florence Cathedral.”
Fig. 6. The Palazzo Comunale
by Michelozzo. “The Palazzo
Comunale of Montepulciano.”
7
Design of The Palazzo Medici
Layout
The Palazzo Medici, 190 feet by 225 feet (42,750 square feet),
consisted of three stories, a central courtyard, a garden, chapels, and a
variety of rooms.16 The following is a description of the layout of the
Palazzo Medici:
Its piano nobile contained three apartments, each consisting of a
sequence of sala, camera, anticamera, and scriptoria, with the
additional luxury of a family chapel. Another suite of rooms,
similar to that of the piano nobile, ran along the Via Larga front of
the upper floor; it was probably intended as a guest apartment.
Quarters for the famiglia of staffieri, camerieri, nurses (balie), and
the resident priest were scattered over all three floors and the
mezzanines. The ground floor comprised a summer apartment
complete with rear garden and loggia. Service quarters for the
portieri and attendants filled out odd nooks and crannies. All of
these parts were arranged around a central courtyard surrounded by
loggias with a wide rear loggia, a sort of courtyard dining hall. The
cortile and garden with loggia may be interpreted as open-air
saloni for summer occupancy.17
The entrance to the palazzo led into the courtyard, which led to the garden, and was surrounded
by various rooms, including a dining hall (fig. 7a). The second floor, or piano nobile, contained
the main living apartments, some of which contained chapels (fig. 7b). Michelozzo designed one
of the most famous chapels in the palazzo, the Chapel of the Magi, with a high, gilded ceiling
16 Banister Fletcher, A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,
1921), 58.
17 Philip Mattox and Howard Saalman, “The First Medici Palace,” 329.
Fig. 7a-7c. “The First
Medici Palace.”
7a (bottom): plan of
ground floor.
7b (middle): plan of
piano nobile.
7c (top): plan of third
floor.
8
and marble floor.18 The upper story served as quarters for a variety of people and purposes, such
as guest apartments (fig. 7c).
The Façade
In the façade Michelozzo designed, “certain elements are made to carry both ancient
Roman and traditional Florentine princely and civic connotations…also, the facade is frankly
treated as surface- that is, as a semiotic entity rather than as the "natural" index of interior spatial
relation.”19 The work Michelozzo does with the façade is reminiscent of his sculptures with the
way he uses texture to
emphasize the building;
the masonry of each
story is unique. The
façade clearly shows the
three levels of the
Palazzo Medici: the ground floor, piano nobile, and upper story; each
story is separated by a stringcourse, and each stories’ height is less than
the height of the story below it (fig. 8). The stone of the ground floor is
rusticated, giving a depth to the ground floor that contrasts with the
smooth ashlar masonry of the second floor. The third floor’s stonework
is even finer (fig. 9). The Palazzo Medici is capped with a large cornice
that juts out over the edges of the building, drawing the viewer’s eyes up
18 Charles Burroughs, “Grammar and Expression in Early Renaissance Architecture,” 58. Chapels were important
elements of all palazzos in the Renaissance. The Chapel of the Magi in the Palazzo Medici was lavishly decorated
and featured a famous fresco depicting the journey of the Magi to Bethlehem.
19 Charles Boroughs, “Grammar and Expression in Early Renaissance Architecture,” 62
Fig. 8. The Palazzo Medici as seen from the Via Larga, by Michelozzo. The
Museums of Florence.
Fig. 9. Façade of
Palazzo Medici by
Michelozzo. The
Museums of Florence.
9
the building and making the building appear lighter, taller, and more intimidating. The
Florentine-style windows of the second and third stories are directly lined up with each other,
with a very simple “AAA” rhythm, but the portals on the ground floor are not aligned with the
windows. Above the portals and windows are arches of stone embedded into the façade of the
palazzo.20 The arched portals and stone patterns are designed to evoke slight Roman architectural
similarities.
The Courtyard and Garden
The main courtyard in the center of the Palazzo Medici features free-standing columns
with Corinthian capitals supporting arches, creating an arcade (fig. 10), similar to that of
Brunelleschi’s Spedale degli Innocenti. The frieze going around the top of the arcade contains
medallions depicting the Medici coat of arms and other designs. Frescos adorn the walls, and
near the entrance to the garden is a statue of Orpheus. This
is perhaps the most classical section of architecture in the
Palazzo Medici, as the free-standing Renaissance column
embodies the “individual freedom and autonomy” that were
so highly valued.21 The column-arcade is a simple, clear
representation of classism.
20 “Medici Riccardi Palace,” The Museums of Florence.
21 Christoff Thoenes and Iain Whyte, “‘Sostegno e adornamento,’ On the Social Symbolism of the Architectural
Orders,” Art in Translation 9, no. 3 (2017): 313, accessed November 14, 2017,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17561310.2017.1357994.
Fig. 10. Courtyard in the Palazzo
Medici by Michelozzo. The Museums
of Florence.
10
There are numerous similarities between
Michelozzo’s courtyard and the courtyard of a Roman villa
in Pompeii (figs. 11&12). The general design is the same: a
courtyard enclosed by frescoed walls supported by
freestanding columns. There are sculptures in the Roman
courtyard as well. However, the Roman villa is even more
simple than the Palazzo Medici; the Roman villa is only one
story tall, there are no arches between the columns, which
are Doric order, and no medallions adorning the frieze. The
Roman courtyard’s elements are squarer than the rounded,
more elegant arches and windows of the Palazzo Medici
courtyard.
The garden, now home to lemon trees, used to be
filled with statues (fig. 13). At one end of the garden there is
a small fountain encircled by mosaic designs in the ground
(fig. 14).22
22 “Palazzo Medici Riccardi,” A View on Cities, accessed November 14, 2017,
http://www.aviewoncities.com/florence/palazzomediciriccardi.htm. The statue in the courtyard was originally
Donatello’s statue of David.
Fig. 11. Courtyard in the Palazzo
Medici by Michelozzo. “The First
Medici Palace.”
Fig. 12. Courtyard in Roman villa in
Pompeii, Italy. “Roman Villa.”
Figs. 13 (left) & 14
(right). The garden at
the Palazzo Medici by
Michelozzo. The
Museums of Florence.
11
Conclusion
Michelozzo built the Palazzo Medici to meet the demands of Cosimo de’ Medici and
express the ideals of classicism. As a merchant and great financier, Cosimo de’ Medici was at the
forefront of the Renaissance movement in Florence, and his house had to show that he was a
Renaissance man of intelligence and culture. As Renaissance architecture, the palazzo’s elements
were derived from the elements of early Roman architecture, intended to be appealing through
simple geometrical shapes and designs. Michelozzo’s design was further influenced by the
architecture of his teacher, Brunelleschi, who got many of his ideas from visiting Rome and
reading the writings of the Roman architect-engineer Vitruvius.
The more I examined the building, especially while I was sketching it, the more I
admired Michelozzo’s work. The rustic ground level would seem abrasive on its own, but with
the way Michelozzo balanced the building, the rusticated masonry adds to the elegance of it. The
height difference between each floor is subtle, but, combined with the stone style shifts, gives the
impression that the building is shrinking in, away from the streets. The huge cornice that caps the
palazzo emphasizes this effect as well, and balances with the heavier-looking ground floor. The
courtyard is beautiful, and I wouldn’t expect to find it inside the Palazzo Medici from looking at
the outside. From the outside, the building looks like a solid rectangular house, not a building
with multiple courtyards and gardens inside it. The simplicity of the outside of the Palazzo
Medici increases the beauty of the architecture inside. I think that Michelozzo accomplished the
task that Cosimo gave him: a simple yet regal and subtly-detailed exterior with an elegant
interior, both of which convey classicist ideals of being cultured and learned, and seeing finding
beauty in simplicity and order.
12
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13
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