Home / Palazzi of Florence / Palazzo Rucellai

Palazzo Rucellai

Current scholarship agrees that the Palazzo Rucellai was designed by the famous artist, architect, and humanist Leon Battista Alberti, but built by Bernardo Rossellino in the mid-fiftheenth century. It is notable for being one of the first palazzos to express humanism in Renaissance residential architecture. This new style is evidenced by an elegant design that sets the building apart from the more fortress-like structures that had been built before in Florence, including the Palazzo Medici with its more heavily rusticated ground floor.

The Palazzo is currently home to the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai, a school that offers diverse study abroad possibilities to international students, especially in the field of liberal arts. A tour of the facilities offers a great opportunity to view Renaissance art, and in particular beautiful vaulted ceilings decorated with mythological figures and motifs.

The Rucellai family still occupy the top floor of the Palazzo.

Palazzo Rucellai
Via della Vigna Nuova, 18
Florence, Italy 50123
+39 055-2645910 (The number is for the Institute - visits can be arranged by appointment.)