The Boboli Gardens has seen many powerful Italian families. It was first owned by the Pitti family. Later it passed on to the Medicis, followed by the Hapsburg-Lorraine family. Each of the owners extended it with great care and commissioned only the best artists to work on it.

The initial landscaping was carried out by Niccolò Pericoli detto Tribolo. After his death in 1555, works were directed by Davide Fortini followed by Giorgio Vasari. Ammannati also contributed to the project between 1560 and 1583, designing the courtyard that still bears his name.

The niches at the sides of the entrance to the grotto hold the statues of Bacchus and Ceres by Baccio Bandinelli (1552-1556) until 1924, when they were replaced with cement casts. Michelangelo's Prisoners stood in the corners. Giulio Parigi was responsible for the Vasca dell'Isola (Island Pond), one of the most suggestive spaces in the garden originally intended for the cultivation of citrus fruits and flowers. In 1834, under Leopoldo II, the labyrinths were destroyed to make way for a wide avenue suitable for carriages, following the design of Pasquale Poccianti.