Palazzo Pucci, Florence

The present palace was designed around 1748 by the architect Paolo Falconieri, and the adjacent site was built by Gherardo Silvani.

[2] The central and oldest part of the palace was commissioned in the 16th century by cardinal Lorenzo Pucci.

[4] On the arch of the piano nobile (first floor) above the entrance portal is the coat of arms of the Pucci family.

It is unclear why they used this profile of a black man for an emblem; some theories claim that an ancestor was a Saracini (or Saracen).

Some claim the three hammers or crosses on the headband symbolize membership in the Carpenters’ Guild, or three letter “T”s, an acronym of the family motto: Tempore tempora tempera (“Alleviate troubles with time”).