Palazzo Rucellai
Florence, Italy
Open to visitors
The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.
Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.
Find out more
Palazzo Rucellai, a fifteenth-century townhouse on the Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence, was designed by Leon Battista Alberti for Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai between 1446 and 1451, with execution by Bernardo Rossellino. Its facade stands as a landmark proclamation of early Renaissance architecture, articulated through a rational grid of pilasters and entablatures in proportional harmony. The channeled rustication of the stone veneer frames smooth-faced pilasters that divide the facade into three-story bays, each employing a different classical order—Tuscan at the base, a Renaissance original at the second level, and a simplified Corinthian at the top. Twin round-arched windows with pronounced voussoirs punctuate the upper stories, crowned by a boldly projecting cornice. The interior arranges functions hierarchically: ground floor for commerce, the piano nobile for formal reception, the third floor for private family quarters, and a hidden fourth floor for servants. An off-center courtyard with arcades, possibly adapted from Brunelleschi's Spedale degli Innocenti, lies within, while the adjacent Loggia de' Rucellai served family celebrations and public gatherings.
Architect
Movement
- Built
- Type
- Palazzo
- Place
- Florence, Italy
This building on
Architecturally similar
Palazzo del CapitaniatoVicenza, Italy
Villa RuscianoFlorence, Italy
Palazzo LarderelFlorence, Italy
Palazzo PandolfiniFlorence, Italy
Palazzina Ottolenghi di VallepianaFlorence, Italy
Palazzo MichelozziFlorence, Italy
Palazzo della Banca d'ItaliaFlorence, Italy
Villino RavazziniFlorence, Italy
Location