Ospedale degli Innocenti: Portico

Placing a portico in front of a hospital was not Brunelleschi’s invention but the revival of an earlier, medieval type that had already been used in Florence for other hospitals. However, in designing the Ospedale degli Innocenti, Brunelleschi increased both the number and size of the spans over earlier models, and the elegance of the pillars and arches.

View the ground plan of Ospedale degli Innocenti.