Barragan

Palazzo Medici and Palazzo Farnese – A Comparison
Although built nearly a century apart, the Palazzo Medici and the Palazzo Farnese have many similarities and differences in various areas of theirhistory and design. From the type of window on the façade to the courtyard, each palace holds its own in both architecture and style while still having similarities to compare.
The Palazzo Medici,built in 1444 by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, has rich architecture both on the exterior and the interior. The facade of the building has two entry doors and three focal windows with pediments on the groundfloor, each one Renaissance in style. There are smaller windows between the doors and the focal windows that are uneven in fenestration. The windows on the upper two stories are the tracery stylewindow found in Gothic architecture and are even in fenestration but are only made to look so on the outside. A few of the windows are not true windows and are simply made to create even fenestration onthe façade. The heavy cornice in its extensive projection recalls the overhanging roofs common to Florentine houses. Yet the style and magnitude of the cornice are unprecedented in seculararchitecture after imperial Rome; it was the product of Michelozzo’s special affinity for the powerful, weighty forms of antique architecture.
The Palazzo Farnese, built in 1515 by Michelangelo, is even moreembellished with detail than the Palazzo Medici. Unlike the Palazzo Medici, the façade of the Palazzo Farnese has a single entry door and even fenestration on all three stories. The windows on the firststory are topped with flat lintels. Each window on the second story is designed in the classical Renaissance style with a pediment above it giving the façade a richer look. The third story windowsare Diocletian in style with pediments above as well. Michelangelo gave the façade its most definitive feature, a massive overhanging cornice of Florentine ancestry close in spirit to that on...