The Palazzo degli Anziani also known as the Palazzo del Comune, della Comunitá or del Giano is a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

-style stone palace located in the ancient historic center of

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The palace served as city hall for centuries; it still belongs to the comune and now mainly houses the Museo Civico d'Arte Antica (including works of the 19th century).

Description and history

In 1295, while Giano della Bella was potestà of Pistoia, it was decided to build a residence for the magistrates or ''elders'' of the city. Previously they had been housed in a palace at via di Sracceria. In the present spot near the

Pistoia Cathedral Pistoia Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Zeno ( it, Duomo di Pistoia or ''Cattedrale di San Zeno'') is the main religious building of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy, located in the ''Piazza del Duomo'' in the centre of the city. It is the seat o ...

, land and houses were purchased from a number of families: Bellanti, Lazzari, Cremonesi, and others. By 1345, the three ground floor arches were erected, and the great hall in the main floor (''piano nobile'') was being built. Construction was completed in 1353 with mullioned windows. On the facade are the coat of arms of the Medici; the city coat of arms with red and white checkers is upheld by a bear, symbol of Pistoia as opposed to Florentine Lion, at the base of the main staircase. In 1637, a piano nobile corridor linking to the church was constructed. PistoiaPalazzoComuneMisure

Supposedly the marble bust that was posted to the right of the central facade window on the piano nobile, represents the infamous Filippo Tedici, considered the ''traitor of Pistoia'' for having sold the town to the Lucchese condotierre

Castruccio Castracani Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli (; 1281 – 3 September 1328) was an Italian ''condottiero'' and duke of Lucca. Biography Castruccio was born in Lucca, a member of the noble family of Antelminelli, of the Ghibelline party. In 1300 he w ...

. He was killed and decapitated in battle, after Castruccio's death. Others think the bust and keys refer to someone of the Grandoni family who once confronted Pisa; the head was putatively in place prior to 1345. On a wall of the palace is a display of the length of a Florentine "Braccio", the particular measure used in Tuscany, prior to the Napoleonic conquest, which ushered in the metric measurement (also featured). The Palazzo was the home to the meetings of the ''Pistoian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts'' from its foundation in 1803 until 1811, when the Napoleonic authorities granted them the suppressed convent of Santa Maria del Carmine of Pistoia.Scientific itineraries in Tuscany
by Museo Galileo.

Museo Civico d'Arte Antica

The museum has been housed in the Palazzo since 1922. Its collections span nearly six centuries and include: *''St Francis and his Miracles'' by the ''Maestro della Croce 434'' ( attributed to

Coppo di Marcovaldo Coppo di Marcovaldo (c. 1225 – c. 1276) was a Florentine painter in the Italo-Byzantine style, active in the middle of the thirteenth century, whose fusion of both the Italian and Byzantine art, Byzantine styles had great influence on gen ...

) *''St Francis receives Stigmata'' (circa 1270–1275, bas relief) by Nicola Pisano *''Mourning the Dead Christ'' (1310) by Lippo di Benivieni *''Holy Conversation'' (before 1510–1512) by

Lorenzo di Credi Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time a ...

*''Madonna della Pergola'' (1523) by Bernardino Detti *''Apollo and Marsyas'' by

Cecco Bravo Cecco Bravo (15 November 1601 – 1661) was an Italian painter of the Florentine Baroque school. His true name is Francesco Montelatici. Biography He trained with Giovanni Biliverti and was also close to Sigismondo Coccapani. In the early 16 ...

*''Danae'' by Giacinto Gimignani *''Presentation of Jesus at the Temple'' (1709–1719) by

Anton Domenico Gabbiani Anton Domenico Gabbiani (13 February 1652 – 22 November 1726) was an Italian painter and active in a late Baroque style. Biography Born in Florence, Gabbiani first apprenticed with the Medici court portrait painter Justus Sustermans, then w ...

*''Vedute of Piazza San Francesco'' (mid 18th-century) attributed to Francesco Maria Beneforti *''Radamisto murdering Zenobia'' (1796–1811) by

Luigi Sabatelli Luigi Sabatelli (21 February 1772 – 29 January 1850) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic period, active in Milan, Rome, and his native city of Florence. Biography He studied in his native city and in Rome. In 1803, with the reorganizatio ...

*''Murder in Venice of

Lorenzino de' Medici Lorenzino de' Medici (23 March 1514 – 26 February 1548), also known as Lorenzaccio, was an Italian politician, writer, and dramatist, and a member of the Medici family. He became famous for assassinating his cousin, Alessandro de' Medici, Duk ...

'' painted 1837–1840 by

Giuseppe Bezzuoli Giuseppe Bezzuoli (28 November 1784 – 13 September 1855) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassicism, Neoclassic period, active in Milan, Rome, and his native city of Florence. Biography He studied as a young man under Jean-Baptiste Desmarais a ...

*''Portrait of Niccolò Puccini'' (1843) also by Bezzuoli

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anziani Houses completed in the 14th century Palaces in Pistoia Gothic architecture in Pistoia