For the Florentines, Palazzo Vecchio signified power and, once in power, Cosimo Medici desired to enlarge and decorate it. This involved the construction of a large number of rooms designed to celebrate, by means of pictorial decoration, the glories of this great dynasty which was now finally ruling Florence.

The work was entirely carried out by Vasari and his helpers. On the first floor, you will find the apartments of Pope Leo X, Pope Clement VII and Lorenzo the Magnificent. On the second floor, the apartments of Cosimo's wife, Eleonora of Toledo, the chapel, the Apartments of the Elements and of the mezzanine.