Palazzo Gondi: Courtyard

The courtyard was oriented at a right angle to the façade so that its narrow, two-bay width would not be noticeable from the vestibule.

The presence of a staircase along one side of the courtyard is an unusual feature in courtyard design. Staircases were usually positioned at a right angle to or in alignment with one of the courtyard loggias.

Although the use of a staircase along one side of a courtyard was uncommon in fifteenth-century domestic palaces, it did have precedents in late-Medieval civic palaces like the Palazzo Bargello in Florence.

The double-urn shape of the staircase's balusters was a form that Giuliano favoured and used elsewhere in this palace as well as at other sites.