Palazzo Piccolomini, Pienza
Bernardo Rossellino · Pienza, Italy · 1462
Palazzo Piccolomini is the domestic anchor of Pope Pius II's transformation of Pienza into an ideal Renaissance town. Bernardo Rossellino adapted the model of the Florentine urban palace to a smaller hill town, organizing a regular stone façade around a courtyard and opening the rear through a three-level loggia toward the Val d'Orcia. That landscape view is integral to the architecture, joining humanist residence, garden and cultivated territory. The palace forms one side of Piazza Pio II opposite the cathedral, where carefully adjusted façades create a compact perspectival ensemble. The date marks completion of the papal rebuilding campaign.