The beginning of the construction of the Ospedale degli Innocenti dates back to the 1400. It was commissioned by the Arte della Seta, or the Silk Trade, which was one of the most powerful corporations of Florence in the early Renaissance, at the time when the square was occupied only by the old church of the Santissima Annunziata. It's possible that from the very beginning of the hospital's construction, Brunelleschi intended to transform the square into a unitary space with symmetrical porticoes. The project, however, was not implemented until the next century, when on the right side of the square both the Loggiato dei Servi was built, so called because it was the property of the Servite Order, and the portico in front of the basilica.
In Ospedale degli Innocenti, you'll see many details that represent its original role welcoming and guarding abandoned children, like the ceramic medallions depicting bundled-up infants which were made by Andrea della Robbia and decorate the spaces between the arches of the façade.
