An interior view of the Sala di Apollo in the Pitti Palace, Florence; the walls are densely hung with oil paintings in ornate carved and gilded frames; the Baroque frescoes and stucco work of the ceiling compete with the walls for the eye's attention; red upholstered giltwood armchairs and side tables are placed at intervals against the dado Following his successful decoration of the Sala della Stufa in the late 1630s, Pietro da Cortona was commissioned by Ferdinand de Medici to work on the suite of five grand ducal reception rooms of the Pitti Palace. The schemes are based upon the hierarchical sequence of the deities expounded in Ptolomeic cosmology; Venus, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mercury and the Moon, which should have come before Venus, are not included. These Baroque ceilings, with frescoes and elaborate stucco work, celebrate the Medici lineage and their gift of virtuous leadership. Cortona left Florence in 1647, and his pupil and collaborator, Ciro Ferri, completed the Sala di Apollo, and the Sala di Saturno by the mid 1660s. Santi Corsi painted many interior views of the Pitti Palace; his painting of the Sala di Saturno was sold at Sotheby's (L 65), 29th November 1999. Another, of the same room, is in the Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. One of his several works depicting the Iliad Room, painted in collaboration with John Lavery, is in Colchester Town Hall. Mario Romani painted a very similar view of the Sala di Apollo, dated 1925; it was sold at auction, 20th March 2013.