The façade of Palazzo Pitti includes a stone that is very different from all the others: differently from the standard 20-cm (about 8-in) length, the slab is 10 meters (almost 33 feet) long.
It is not a mistake by Michelangelo’s apprentice and cooperator, the architect Luca Fancelli, but a specific request by the commissioner. With the residence built in the Oltrarno neighborhood, Luca Pitti wanted to affirm the greatness of the dynasty he belonged to. Along with the glitz of its interior design, the marvelous Boboli Garden, and the courtyard so vast as to include Palazzo Strozzi within it, the rich façade narrates the fight for dominance with the Medici family.
The lesser-known but significant detail is found on the rusticated façade and is flanked by another slab, though very narrow, representing the historic rival. Even the stones rule in Palazzo Pitti.
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