Orti Oricellari

Nannina de' Medici, eldest sister of the Lorenzo il Magnifico, and her husband, the humanist Bernardo Rucellai (son of Giovanni Rucellai) built what is now the Palazzo Venturi Ginori here in the late 15th century. Nearby were the works that produced the purplish red dye that had made the Rucellai fortune.

Bernardo, who grew up with Lorenzo and his brother Giuliano and participated in the same intellectual and cultural circles (he was said to be the greatest pupil of Marsilio Ficino), was one of Lorenzo's most trusted lieutenants, acting as his representative in Florence when Lorenzo was out of town. But Bernardo began to criticize Lorenzo's despotic ways, and his relationship with the family waxed and waned. He thought the Medici should share power with their fellow aristocrats. The Medici, however, didn't think so.