The Palazzo Rucellai is a 15th century palace in Florence designed by Leon Battista Alberti for the wealthy merchant Giovanni Rucellai between 1446-1451. Alberti designed a symmetrical facade using classical elements like pilasters, entablatures and orders to denote different floors. The ground floor featured the Tuscan order and was higher than upper floors for business. The second floor featured Ionic pilasters and was the main reception area. The third floor had Corinthian pilasters and was the private family quarters. The palace influenced later Renaissance architecture with its rational classical design.

1. Presentation by:
Priya Nanda (2010uar157)
Dikchya Pandey (2010uar158)
Shubham Jangir (2010uar)

2. Introduction..
 The Palazzo Rucellai is one of the best examples
of architecture fifteenth in Florence , located in Via della Vigna
Nuova 18.
 Its facade was designed by Leon Battista Alberti and was the first
in a series of major architectural changes that the architect and
theorist of the Renaissance performed for the family Rucellai .
 The building, commissioned by the wealthy merchant Giovanni
Rucellai , was built between 1446 and 1451 by Bernardo Rossellini ,
designed by Leon Battista Alberti , who was related to Rucellai by
friendship and cultural affinity. Alberti took care of only a partial
intervention, with its interior made up of several buildings and
irregular, which required a concentration rather than volume, the
facade was completed towards 1465 .
 Alberti designed a rational "skin" for this palace--a type of "screen"
architecture in which the classical elements provide no support
structure.
 All three stories are of equal height with flat pilasters
supporting a classical entablature.
 It has been home to the Rucellai family for over 500 years and the
family continues to occupy portions of the building.

3. Façade..
 Alberti’s overriding concern with balance and proportion is
evident in his symmetrical treatment of the palace’s facade.
 The use of the three classical orders to indicate upward
progression was inspired by the Colosseum at Rome.
 The structural elements of ancient Rome are replicated in
 the arches,
 pilasters and
 entablatures, and
 in the larger blocks on the ground floor which
heighten the impression of strength and solidity.
 it does not end sharply, but is expected to continue because
it was indented with a third portal.
 Marked a turning point in the architecture of the patrician
residence and set it apart from the more fortress-like
structures that had been previously built in Florence
 The Palazzo Rucellai, in turn, influenced such later
buildings as the Palazzo della Cancelleria (later the Papal
Chancery, in Rome).

4. The ground floor..
 higher than the upper floors,
 The pilasters on the ground floor have
the Tuscan order at the base- a reinterpretation
of the ' Doric columns’
 in front is a "bench away," an element of
practical use and which also created a sort of
basic plan for the palace, as if it were
a stylobate in ancient roman buildings.
 The backrest of the bench play is the Opus
reticulatum : a form of brickwork used
in ancient Roman architecture, (the skill having
been lost with the end of the Roman Empire,
and rediscovered by means of archeology
by Leon Battista Alberti.)
 The polished ashlar quoins is also inspired by
Roman architecture
 The frieze on the ground floor contains the
insignia of the Rucellai family

5. The first floor…
 On the first floor ( main floor )
the pilasters are a Renaissance original:
Alberti's own invention (acanthus leaves
with a center palmette) in place of
the Ionic order at the second level
 large double windows, with embossed
frame, column and oculus at the center.
 The insignia of the Rucellai family (three
feathers in a ring, the sails inflated by
the wind and the family coat of arms)
also appears on the coats of arms above
the portals.

6. The second floor
 The top floor pilasters have Corinthian
style
 altering with mullioned windows of the
same type.
 Above the building is crowned by
a cornice projecting slightly, supported
by brackets , which is hidden beyond a
loggia; evidence of the break with
medieval tradition and openness to the
great age of Renaissance.

7. Interiors..
 The palace was created from an enclave of eight
smaller buildings which were combined to form a
single architectural complex arranged around a central
courtyard. The "piano nobile" or noble floor, is home
to the Institute at Palazzo Rucellai. It was refurbished
for the occasion of the wedding of Giuseppe Rucellai
and Teresa de' Pazzi in 1740. The frescoed vaulted
ceilings which date from that time depict mythological
figures and motifs.
Some rooms were decorated with frescoes by Gian
Domenico Ferretti , of the Moro Lorenzo and Pietro
Anderlini .

8. Uses…
 The ground floor was for business
(the Rucellai family were powerful
bankers) and was flanked by
benches running along the street
facade.
 The second story (the piano
nobile) was the main formal
reception floor and
 the third story the private family
and sleeping quarters.
 A fourth "hidden" floor under the
roof was for servants; because it had
almost no windows, it was quite
dark inside.

9. Related monuments..
 On the back of the building is the former church of
San Pancrazio , which contains another masterpiece of
Alberti, the temple of the Holy Sepulchre , in the
former north aisle, the only area still devoted to this
structure, which now houses the Museum Marino
Marini . Front of the building always Leon Battista
Alberti designed the Rucellai Loggia . The facade of
the nearby Basilica of Santa Maria Novella was
designed by Alberti as always on behalf of Giovanni
Rucellai.

10.  The end.