Michelozzo Giorgio Vasari and Pierino da Vinci Cortile of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in Italy

Andrea Verrocchio, Francesco Ferruci, Fountain of the Cortile di Michelozzo, 1555, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence Italy

Fountain Cortile Michelozzo The first courtyard, as you enter the Palazzo Vecchio from the Piazza della Signoria, is called the Cortile di Michelozzo, after the architect of Cosimo de' Medici, whose full name was Michelozzo Michelozzi, who began work on this courtyard in 1453.

Giorgio Vasari was also involved in the decoration of this courtyard, even hastily, in order to give it all the pomp and circumstance needed to celebrate the wedding of Francis I of Medici to Joan of Austria.

Michelozzi began this courtyard's works in 1453.

Pierino da Vinci, Samson slays a Philistine, 1550, Courtyard of Michelozzo, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence Italy

Pierino da Vinci In honour of his future wife, Vasari commissioned frescoes depicting landscapes of the Austrian empire, including 14 cities, including Vienna and Prague, which were part of the empire at the time.

All the columns were covered in stucco and grotesques.

A fountain by Francesco Ferrucci, topped by a Putto with a dolphin by Andrea Verrocchio, adorns the centre of the courtyard.

There is also a sculpture dating from 1550 by Leonardo da Vinci's nephew, Pierino da Vinci, who depicted Samson killing a Philistine.

Michelozzo, Vasari and Pierino da Vinci Cortile, courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence in Italy

Courtyard Palazzo Vecchio

Giorgio Vasari, Le Cortile de Michelozzo, 1555-1565, du Palazzo Vecchio à Florence en Italie

Cortile Michelozzo

Pierino da Vinci