Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace), is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1539 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plate, jewellery and luxurious possessions. Bel was interested in the costume gallery and since it’s free, we did not hesitate to join the short queue into the huge palace :)
We first went past the main palace building into the pathway leading to the amphitheater of the palace’s Boboli Gardens. Going up flights of stairs, we reached the Boboli garden where there’s wonderful view of Florence hills. Taking in the view, I am particularly fond of the trees shaped like elongated ‘spade’ (i.e black spade of deck cards). The Porcelain Museum is also located here with great collection of porcelain from most notable European porcelain factories. Some of the collections are gifts to the Florentine rulers from other European sovereigns. Later, we visited the costume gallery housing a collection of theatrical costumes dating from the 16th century until the present. It is also the only museum in Italy detailing the history of Italian fashions. Not only they have an impressive collection of costumes, they also have shoes and accessories too. It is definitely intriguing to see how the fashion changes through the era.
We also visited the Palatine Gallery contains a large ensemble of over 500 principally Renaissance paintings, which were once part of the Medicis' and their successors' private art collection. The royal apartments, with a suite of 14 rooms, all furnished lavishly with art pieces and gorgeous furniture. Another thing I noticed here is that if you pay enough attention, you will find quite a number of tortoise statues, big and small laying around the palace. However I’m not sure what the tortoise symbolizes but it's sure is interesting.
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