Description
Palazzo Blu is a palace on the Lungarno Gambacorti, in Pisa, near the church of Santa Cristina, known for its blue facade, the "color of the air". Its real name is Palazzo Giuli Rosselmini Gualandi; today it is the seat of the Fondazione Pisa and an exhibition center.
The rooms still have their decoration.
In the Room of the Polyptychs, the former library of the Giuli counts, decorated in 1884 by Nicola Torricini, is the Agnano Polyptych by Cecco di Pietro, with its 1930 copy. The Red Room was the dining hall, inaugurated in 1903 with a ball; in the Room of the Grotesques the door is painted by Antonio Niccolini.
Under the palace, during the restorations, a stretch of 12th-century road came to light, with herringbone brickwork, along with the remains of an even older defensive tower. The present blue echoes a fragment of 18th-century paint found on the facade.
A woman who claimed to be the daughter of an empress, a Russian admiral, a kidnapping: in February 1775 "Princess Tarakanova", suspected of plotting against Catherine II, was abducted in this palace and taken back to Russia by Admiral Orlov.
What were Russians doing on the Lungarno? From 1773 the palace was rented on behalf of the empress, and it was painted blue, like the palaces of St. Petersburg. Hence the name: Palazzo Blu. In 1781 Ekaterina Dashkova, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stayed here and described it in her Memoirs.
The first core dates to 1356, when the doge Giovanni dell'Agnello obtained permission to enlarge his houses.
The king had entered Pisa on November 8, 1494 with three thousand horsemen. In June 1495, at a great ball, the Pisan noblewomen begged Charles VIII of France here to defend the city's freedom: among them was Camilla del Lante, whom the Pisans remember well.
In 1593 Emilio Del Testa turned it into a late Renaissance palace, and in 1861 Count Domenico Giuli bought it for 50,000 lire, making it symmetrical. In the 19th century it had passed to the Bracci-Cambini and to the Milanese counts D'Archinto, and before that, in the 18th century, the Agostini family had leased it to Dr. Cesare Studiati, director of the Imperial Greek-Russian College.
Don't miss
• The Room of the Polyptychs.
• The Red Room.
• The Room of the Grotesques.
Did you know?
• The copy of the polyptych is by Icilio Federico Joni, the most famous Italian forger of the 20th century.
• Under the palace there is a stretch of 12th-century road.
The rooms still have their decoration.
In the Room of the Polyptychs, the former library of the Giuli counts, decorated in 1884 by Nicola Torricini, is the Agnano Polyptych by Cecco di Pietro, with its 1930 copy. The Red Room was the dining hall, inaugurated in 1903 with a ball; in the Room of the Grotesques the door is painted by Antonio Niccolini.
Under the palace, during the restorations, a stretch of 12th-century road came to light, with herringbone brickwork, along with the remains of an even older defensive tower. The present blue echoes a fragment of 18th-century paint found on the facade.
A woman who claimed to be the daughter of an empress, a Russian admiral, a kidnapping: in February 1775 "Princess Tarakanova", suspected of plotting against Catherine II, was abducted in this palace and taken back to Russia by Admiral Orlov.
What were Russians doing on the Lungarno? From 1773 the palace was rented on behalf of the empress, and it was painted blue, like the palaces of St. Petersburg. Hence the name: Palazzo Blu. In 1781 Ekaterina Dashkova, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stayed here and described it in her Memoirs.
The first core dates to 1356, when the doge Giovanni dell'Agnello obtained permission to enlarge his houses.
The king had entered Pisa on November 8, 1494 with three thousand horsemen. In June 1495, at a great ball, the Pisan noblewomen begged Charles VIII of France here to defend the city's freedom: among them was Camilla del Lante, whom the Pisans remember well.
In 1593 Emilio Del Testa turned it into a late Renaissance palace, and in 1861 Count Domenico Giuli bought it for 50,000 lire, making it symmetrical. In the 19th century it had passed to the Bracci-Cambini and to the Milanese counts D'Archinto, and before that, in the 18th century, the Agostini family had leased it to Dr. Cesare Studiati, director of the Imperial Greek-Russian College.
Don't miss
• The Room of the Polyptychs.
• The Red Room.
• The Room of the Grotesques.
Did you know?
• The copy of the polyptych is by Icilio Federico Joni, the most famous Italian forger of the 20th century.
• Under the palace there is a stretch of 12th-century road.