Palazzo Blu, Art museum and historic building in Pisa, Italy
Palazzo Blu is the name given since 2008 to the Palazzo Giuli Rosselmini Gualandi, a former aristocratic palace at 9 Lungarno Gambacorti in Pisa. Its facade is painted in the blue, or air colour, used on St Petersburg palaces; the shade was reapplied in fresco after a fragment of late-18th-century paint was found during restoration. Inside are the Fondazione Pisa collection, the stately apartments and the Simoneschi collection of coins and antiquities.
The first nucleus was built from 14 November 1356, when doge Giovanni dell'Agnello obtained permission to enlarge his properties here into a domus of verrucano stone pillars and ogival arches. Emilio Del Testa turned it into a late-Renaissance palace in 1593. The blue, or air colour, was painted in the late 18th century under the Agostini family, who leased it in 1773 to Cesare Studiati for Empress Catherine II; a fragment of that paint was found during the facade restoration.
The name Palazzo Blu comes from the blue, or air-colour, paint applied to the facade in the late 18th century, when the palace was rented for the Russian court of Catherine II. A fragment of that fresco was found during restoration and used to recreate the present colour. The first floor holds the Simoneschi Collection of coins and antiquities and the stately apartments; the second floor displays the Fondazione Pisa collection, with works from the 14th to the 20th century.
The building is accessible with elevators connecting all floors, making it easy to navigate the entire space. Plan enough time to explore the collections, especially if temporary exhibitions are on display during your visit.
Restoration by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa uncovered a stretch of the ancient Via Emilia Scauri paved in herringbone terracotta sestini with its sidewalk, datable to around the 12th century, plus a massive tower wall in verrucana stone with an ogival arch from the late 11th century.
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