The Pitti Palace with its immense garden, the Boboli, dominates the left bank of the river Arno across from the main part of the ancient city of Florence. The original palace was begun in 1458 on the orders of Luca Pitti, an ambitious and corrupt merchant friend of the Medici's. Successive enlargements transformed the building into the grand edifice we see today. Within the Palatine Gallery, originally consisting of about 500 paintings from the Grand-Duke Ferdinand II's private collection, today's visitor can admire one of the world's greatest art collections. Among the many masterpieces on display are magnificent works by Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Titian and Rubens.