Frescoes and interiors in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence (1637-61)

The Palazzo Pitti in Florence, purchased from the Pitti family by the wife of Duke CosimoI de' Medici in 1549 and renovated and expanded by Bartolommeo Ammanati, served as a residence of royal proportions for roughly 350 years. It was occupied by the dynasties of the Medici, the Habsburgs, and finally the Savoyards, and subjected to constant adaptations and alterations. Intensive use by ruling families resulted in the lavish decoration of all floors. Fresco painters from three centuries contributed to the fixed decor of the public rooms and living quarters. Of its numerous apartments two suites of rooms stand out because of their decoration, function and size. These took their present form under Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici (1610-1670), and for the most part they were spared later encroachments owing to their high-quality frescoes. These are the reception rooms in the left (north) wing used by Ferdinando II. The rooms on the cooler ground floor, directly connected with the Boboli Gardens by way of a loggia and a terrace, served him as a summer apartment (Appartamento d'Estate); his winter quarters (Appartamento d'Inverno), reached by way of a large staircase and capable of being heated, lie directly above these on the piano nobile.

In the winter quarters Pietro da Cortona decorated the Stanza della Stufa, the Rooms of the Planets (Sala di Venere; Sala di Giove; Sala di Marte; Sala di Apollo) between 1637 and 1661. The summer quarters were decorated by Giovanni da San Givanni, Francesco Furini, Ottavio Vannini, Cecco Bravo, Angelo Michele Colonna, and Ciro Ferri.