Description
The Palazzo della Carovana is one of the palaces of Piazza dei Cavalieri, in Pisa: a Renaissance facade covered in sgraffito, with busts of grand dukes and coats of arms. It was the headquarters of the Knights of St. Stephen; since 1846 it has been the main seat of the Scuola Normale Superiore.
The name makes you think of camels and deserts, but it is really about the sea. The "caravan" was the sailing in company of the knights' ships, which patrolled the Mediterranean against corsairs. Novices spent three years training in arms to be able to join them.
What you should look at is the facade: sgraffito with allegories and zodiac signs, designed by Vasari and carried out by Tommaso Battista del Verrocchio and Alessandro Forzori in 1564-1566. They look in excellent condition, but they were repainted in the 19th and 20th centuries: paintings left outdoors fade.
At the top, a gallery of busts of the Medici grand dukes, added in three stages by three different sculptors: Cosimo I, Francesco I and Ferdinando I are by Ridolfo Sirigatti, Cosimo II by Pietro Tacca, Ferdinando II and Cosimo III by Giovan Battista Foggini.
Below, the coat of arms of the Medici and the Knights, between the allegories of Religion and Justice by Stoldo Lorenzi, from 1563; the coats of arms on the corners are by Giovanni Fancelli. At the entrance, a double-ramp staircase rebuilt larger in 1821.
Inside, some rooms have 19th-century frescoes and stuccoes, with 16th-century paintings of the Vasarian school. The rear part was added between 1928 and 1930, on the occasion of a relaunch of the Scuola Normale promoted by Giovanni Gentile.
The palace has a history of institutions. As early as 1261 it was in use as the palace of the Popolo and the Anziani; in 1846 Grand Duke Leopold II founded the Tuscan Scuola Normale here, inaugurated in November 1847.
Behind the orderly facade hides a much older building. Between 1562 and 1564 Giorgio Vasari transformed the medieval Palazzo degli Anziani on behalf of Cosimo I, merging architecture, sculpture and painting. The old tower-houses vanished behind a regular facade, but a few remains can still be seen on the sides.
Don't miss
• The sgraffito facade.
• The busts of the Medici grand dukes.
• The coat of arms of the Medici and the Knights.
• The double-ramp staircase.
Did you know?
• Since 1977 a tunnel has linked the palace to the Normale's library, in the nearby Palazzo dell'Orologio.
• The palace was the set for a few episodes of the series "My Brilliant Friend".
The name makes you think of camels and deserts, but it is really about the sea. The "caravan" was the sailing in company of the knights' ships, which patrolled the Mediterranean against corsairs. Novices spent three years training in arms to be able to join them.
What you should look at is the facade: sgraffito with allegories and zodiac signs, designed by Vasari and carried out by Tommaso Battista del Verrocchio and Alessandro Forzori in 1564-1566. They look in excellent condition, but they were repainted in the 19th and 20th centuries: paintings left outdoors fade.
At the top, a gallery of busts of the Medici grand dukes, added in three stages by three different sculptors: Cosimo I, Francesco I and Ferdinando I are by Ridolfo Sirigatti, Cosimo II by Pietro Tacca, Ferdinando II and Cosimo III by Giovan Battista Foggini.
Below, the coat of arms of the Medici and the Knights, between the allegories of Religion and Justice by Stoldo Lorenzi, from 1563; the coats of arms on the corners are by Giovanni Fancelli. At the entrance, a double-ramp staircase rebuilt larger in 1821.
Inside, some rooms have 19th-century frescoes and stuccoes, with 16th-century paintings of the Vasarian school. The rear part was added between 1928 and 1930, on the occasion of a relaunch of the Scuola Normale promoted by Giovanni Gentile.
The palace has a history of institutions. As early as 1261 it was in use as the palace of the Popolo and the Anziani; in 1846 Grand Duke Leopold II founded the Tuscan Scuola Normale here, inaugurated in November 1847.
Behind the orderly facade hides a much older building. Between 1562 and 1564 Giorgio Vasari transformed the medieval Palazzo degli Anziani on behalf of Cosimo I, merging architecture, sculpture and painting. The old tower-houses vanished behind a regular facade, but a few remains can still be seen on the sides.
Don't miss
• The sgraffito facade.
• The busts of the Medici grand dukes.
• The coat of arms of the Medici and the Knights.
• The double-ramp staircase.
Did you know?
• Since 1977 a tunnel has linked the palace to the Normale's library, in the nearby Palazzo dell'Orologio.
• The palace was the set for a few episodes of the series "My Brilliant Friend".