18th Century Italian Frame

This remarkable Italian frame lived in Florence’s iconic ‘Pitti Palace’, once the ducal residence of Cosimo I de’ Medici and his wife Eleonora of Toledo from 1550, a period when the palace stood as a powerful emblem of Medici authority across Tuscany.

Over the years, the building passed through several hands. After the Medici, it became home to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and later to Italy’s royal family from the House of Savoy. The palace itself began life in the mid-1400s, commissioned by Luca Pitti, whose ambition helped shape what would become one of Florence’s most important historic residences.