In 1689 in the galleria, its ceiling magnificently painted by Luca Giordano with the Apotheosis of the Medici Dynasty, a memorable reception was held in honour of the wedding of the Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici, son of the Grand-duke Cosimo III, and Violante Beatrice of Baveria.

After the death of Baldi in 1686, Giovan Battista Foggini, architect and sculptor of the Grand-ducal court, greatly appreciated by the Florentine aristocracy, undertook the third phase of operations. He completed the extension of the facade, and also directed the renovation and decoration of various interior areas .

The last phase of works promoted by the Riccardi took place in the second decade of the eighteenth century. In 1719 the so-called cortile delle colonne (or Michelozzo’s courtyard) became a sort of museum of antiquities. The collection of antique epigraphs and reliefs were arranged on the walls of the courtyard within elaborate late-Baroque frames, alternated with antique busts on brackets. Erudition and pomp came together in the arrangement which celebrated the most important collection of antiquities in Florence.