Commissioned in 1457 by Luca Pitti - a wealthy Florentine banker - this colossal stone palace on the south side of the Arno was originally intended as a sign of resistance to the all-powerful Medici. By the 1540s the Medici family had become so dominant that the Duchess of Florence, Eleonora da Toledo, purchased the entire palace with her own private income. The Pitti Palace then became the official residence of the Medici Grand Dukes, the focus of royal life and court entertainment.