The palace was constructed as a grand display of the wealth of its owner, Luca Pitti. However, the building was left incomplete when the man's money ran out and he died in 1472. Sometime between 1481 and 1488, Girolamo Riario sent some of his men to ransack the Palazzo Pitti. These men killed some of the palace's residents and stole a valuable map, before returning to Girolamo in Forlì. Soon after, Lorenzo de' Medici contacted the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze via pigeon coop while he was in Forlì, explaining to him what had happened. With this knowledge, Ezio hunted down and killed Girolamo's men.