Palazzo de Larderel, Neoclassical palace in Livorno, Italy.
Palazzo de Larderel is a neoclassical palace in Livorno with four floors and a symmetrical facade decorated with sculptural details and a central balcony. The structure spans a substantial width with classical proportions visible throughout.
François Jacques de Larderel, a French-born entrepreneur, bought a large plot on the via dei Condotti Nuovi in 1830 and had Riccardo Calocchieri build a first palazzina there in 1832. Named count of Montecerboli in 1837, he extended the residence with two lateral wings completed in 1839 to plans by Gaetano Gherardi. Around 1850 Ferdinando Magagnini unified the separate blocks into a single facade.
The vestibule holds plaster casts of illustrious Tuscans, copies of the statues lining the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. More statues stand along the adjoining grand staircase, completed in the second half of the 19th century. The Gothic Cabinet, made by Ferdinando Magagnini in 1836, keeps its gilded neo-Gothic woodwork with pointed arches and mullioned windows.
The palace now houses the Civil Court of Livorno, so the interior is generally not open to visitors. The restored 80-metre facade on via de Larderel, between the Cisternone and piazza della Repubblica, can be seen from the street at any time.
The ballroom's ceiling carries a painting by Cecrope Barilli in which a steam locomotive and electrical insulators can be made out. The orchestra played from a tribune on the upper level, and a mechanical system still in place let orders be sent to the musicians from the floor below.
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