The tour begins with the exterior and the architectural peculiarities of the building (designed in 1444 by Michelozzo, with well-known variants by Michelangelo) before continuing on to the courtyard and garden to pass in review all the stages in the Medicis’ rise to power with Cosimo the Elder, Piero the Gouty and Lorenzo the Magnificent, men of stellar importance in culture and politics, men who wrote the history of the 15th-century city and who promoted the birth of the Florentine Renaissance: one outstanding witness to their acumen is the precious Chapel of the Magi on the first floor, marvellously frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli. The tour concludes with a visit to the sparkling Hall of Mirrors for an in-depth look at the ‘second life’ of the palazzo, which began when it was purchased by the Riccardi family in the mid-1600s and became their residence.