Palazzo Vecchio (Palazzo dei Priori), Piazza della Signoria, Florence: close-up of the Putto with Dolphin fountain in the first courtyard

NOTES: This, the most important medieval building in the city, was built as the residence of the Priori delle Arti and the Gonfalioniere in 1299-1310. From 1540 onwards it became the ducal residence of Cosimo I de' Medici and his family and necessary further changes and enlargements were undertaken by G. B. Tasso and Giorgio Vasari. The 'first courtyard' was designed in 1453 by Michelozzo. The original sculpture on the fountain was by Verrocchio (1476) and the porphyry fountain itself by del Tadda. Vasari executed the wall frescos in 1565.