View of the courtyard

Michelozzo di Bartolommeo’s design for the Palazzo Medici (now Palazzo Medici Riccardi; 1444), Florence, may have been inspired by Brunelleschi’s grandiose design, which had been rejected, perhaps because it was considered incompatible with Cosimo de’Medici’s political and cultural image. Michelozzo’s design, however, with its relatively regular plan organized around a central colonnaded courtyard, its rear garden flanked by loggias, and with its three-storey fa�ades crowned by massive cornices, became a model for early Renaissance architecture.

The courtyard portico has Corinthian columns. The graffiti are the work of Maso di Bartolommeo, and the medallions on the architrave above the arches are attributed to Bertoldo. Behind the statue of Orpheus by Bandinelli is the entrance to the garden.