Rucellai is the name of a Florentine patrician family dating back to the middle of the 13^th century to an Alamanno known as Oricellario, because he had obtained from a lichen of the Oricella type a purple wool dye (Oricello), used to make textiles, that remained the exclusive property and source of wealth for this family. This nickname gave origin to the surname Oricellari, later Rucellai. The family was in the trading business and in the 15^th century became one of the most powerful in Florence. Due to a deep love of art and architecture and its support, the Rucellai family endowed the city with a number of magnificent buildings, becoming  patrons of arts and science.

Palazzo Rucellai was built between 1446 and 1451, on the site of several Medieval constructions. Its monumental façade, with its classical orders and rational system of proportion, was designed by the theorist, scholar and architect Leon Battista Alberti; he collaborated with the master builder Bernardo Rossellino, who executed the construction of the façade and reconfigured the interior plan. Rossellino established his own reputation as an architect by erecting monumental buildings, and the first urban ensemble,in the city of Pienza under the patronage of pope Pius the Second.This grand classical edifice is considered the embodiment of the humanist ideals that distinguish the Renaissance from the medieval period. In its construction, it unified eight separate medieval houses effectively combining the preexisting city fabric with the new ideals of perspectival space.

              Giovanni Rucellai himself thus describes the project in his manuscript Zibaldone Quaresimale : “…and out of eight houses I made one, three looked on to Via della Vigna and five behind…”  Alberti argued that this new façade would lend material expression befitting the status of his noble patron.

Today, the Palazzo Rucellai remains the property of the  Rucellai family. Located on a prominent shopping street, Palazzo Rucellai is within easy walking distance from the Cathedral, the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza Signoria and the Santa Maria Novella Railroad Station.