Luca Pitti

Luca Pitti was a Florentine banker born into the family that belonged to the financial and mercantile oligarchy of Florence.

As a loyal friend and servant to the Medici and the republic, he supported the rise of the Cosimo de’Medici and cooperated with him to impose institutional reform and strengthen the primacy of the Medici. For his services and merits he was granted a knighthood. Great prestige and influence that he enjoyed is evident in his election on the post of Gonfalonier of Justice in 1448, and again in 1453.

After the death of Cosimo in 1464, Luca Pitti joined a conspiracy against Cosimo’s successor, Pierro the Gouty, but in the last moment he decided to opt out. Conspiracy was discovered and its participants expelled from the city. Although Pitti avoided banishment, he lost support not only of the Medici, but also of their opponents. Without social connections, he lost his offices in the state, as well as his power and wealth.

Around 1440, as one of the wealthiest and most influential citizens, Luca have ordered the construction of the Palazzo Pitti in Oltrarno with the aim to overshadow those of the Medici. But, with the loss of family’s power and fortune, the palace eventually came into possession of the Medici family.