In the early 16th century the Medici family was the sole master of Florence, following the return of its members from exile. They abolished democracy and ruled as Grand Dukes. Fear of popular unrest made them hesitant whenever they appeared in public. Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici commissioned Giorgio Vasari to build a corridor from Palazzo Pitti to the Uffizi, thus uniting the private residence of the Medici family to their office complex. The enclosed passageway was commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo’s son, Francesco with Johanna of Austria, and was completed in less than six months.