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The history of the building which looks over the city from the banks of the Arno started in 1418 when Luca Pitti, a wealthy banker, bought the home and lands of the Boboli family, determined on building a home equal to the Medici palazzo in the Via Larga. He entrusted the job to Brunelleschi, however, the architect's death meant that the design never got past the blueprint stage. One of his students, Luca Fancelli, took over the project and started work in 1458. The result was the central part of the present-day building, an enlargement of the original two-storied house which now boasted seven bays, a central portal, and two flanking doors. The palazzo was still unfinished when Luca Pitti died in 1472. His descendants made no additions to the building, and in 1549 it was sold to Eleonora of Toledo, the wife of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici. The duchess saw that the Boboli house with its gardens could be turned into the most fabulous city palazzo that Florence had ever seen.
The gardens received attention first. They were completely re-landscaped by Tribolo. His design involved woods, pathways, orchards, and an amphitheatre. Baccio Bandinelli and Giovanni Fancelli took part in the work, laying out the central lawn and a new network of waterways for the fountains. After the death of Tribolo, Bartolomeo Ammanati took over and connected the palace and the gardens with a splendid courtyard. It was closed in on three sides and gave on to the internal façade of the palazzo and the two high wings that stretched out towards the Boboli Gardens.
Then the palazzo itself was expanded, and the rooms were graced by a collection of art treasures. The new residence was fit for the elaborate celebrations which until then, had been held at the Palazzo della Signoria. From 1565 the Medici family lived in the Palazzo Pitti.
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