Permanent exhibition

The works of art and furnishings in Palazzo Blu are owned by the Pisa Foundation.

The inspiration behind the collection is the link between the works, the city of Pisa and its territory: by author, owners, origin or theme.

The original core of the collection, purchased from Cassa di Risparmio di Pisa, has been enriched with works by important authors including Nino Pisano, Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi, Orazio Riminaldi and Tribolo. In addition to the individual works, the Foundation has purchased entire collections such as Ottavio Simoneschi's collection, or the very rich photographic archive of Luciano Frassi, which documents the life of the city during the second half of the ’900s. The collections are displayed on two floors. The second floor, the recommended starting point of the visit, has a museum cut, with paintings from the 14th to the 18th century, chronologically arranged in the rooms. The set-up of the first floor was instead designed as the reconstruction of a 19th-century mansion, decorated mostly by Simoneschi’s collection with pieces from the 16th to the 20th century, and the original ones of the palace. In particular, this collection was fundamental for the furnishing of individual rooms, which, except for one (the dining room on the first floor), almost without furniture when they were purchased by the Foundation. Also the ground floor has two richly decorated rooms (sometimes occupied by temporary exhibitions). From the ground floor you can also access the basement (Le Fondamenta), where archaeological finds from excavations performed during the restoration of the building and adjoining areas are exhibited in three rooms. From the entrance hall to the entry way you can access through a corridor the part of the building divided into several rooms arranged on two floors, where the great fall and spring exhibitions are held. The subject is represented by monographs of great international artists, exhibitions on scientific topics or wide in-depth analysis of local historical and artistic events.