Palazzo alla Giornata, lungarno Pacinotti

Particolari facciata - Palazzo Lanfreducci detto ‘Alla Giornata’ (G. Bettini, Comune di Pisa)

The palace, an agglomeration of ancient towers (one of which is still clearly visible on the back), is the result of a grandiose intervention by architect Cosimo Pugliani, between 1594 and the early seventeenth century. The beautiful façade in Verruca stone and marble can be distinguished from those of the other buildings of the Lungarno Pacinotti precisely for its brilliance and for the imposing marble balcony with the Lanfreducci coat of arms, executed by Fancelli in 1628. Above the doorway we read the family motto, Alla Giornata (One day at a time). The palace today is the seat of the Rector of the University of Pisa and houses important works of art and two curious seventeenth-century globes. The Lanfreducci family has been present in Pisa since the thirteenth century, but only after 1350 it emerged, despite the great plague that killed most of the population. In the Medici era the family distinguished itself primarily for the work of the Knight of Malta Francesco Lanfreducci.

'Alla giornata' ('One day at a time'), the legends of the Lanfreducci motto: in 1594 Francesco Lanfreducci, a knight of Malta, was at sea for a trade journey and was captured by pirate ships and taken to Algiers, where he was imprisoned. He was forced to work by grinding wheat with his bare hands. Once freed, he returned to Pisa and on the banks of the river he mirrored the most beautiful palace ever built and there he placed his sad memory: To the Day of raw pain. And the Arno was sweet (Gabriele D'Annunzio). Another legend sees him prisoner of the ruler of Algiers, who realizing his talents, wanted him as an adviser. A mutual trust was created between the two, so much so that Francesco asked the sovereign to be able to return to his homeland. I will free you when you will eat, exhausted, fat or lean meat on Fridays too! This was the reply of the monarch who tried to convince Francesco to abandon his Christian faith. On a Friday in December, Francesco went before the sovereign with a camel leg in his mouth. The ruler rejoiced and freed him. As soon as he arrived in his Pisan palace, he had the following words written on the doorway: Alla Giornata (One day at a time) in memory of that day when he ate meat on Friday. Francesco did not give up his faith, since that Friday was Christmas, the only time when fasting may not be observed.

The damaged windowsills: Looking at the four windowsills, you will notice numerous cracks and alterations. According to the Nunciature Court of Florence, on 28 November 1611 in Florence a scion of the Lanfreducci family, a certain Francesco (the Younger), deliberately killed count Giorgio Bentivoglio, nephew of Bianca Cappello, due to an excess of jealousy towards a beautiful Portuguese woman. As a punishment, Francesco was sentenced to deface the façade of his own building, shattering the four windowsills on the first floor.

In January 1961, thanks to Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti and Luigi Chiarini, the first lesson of the course in History and Criticism of Cinema was held in Pisa: it was the first official chair in Italy and Europe in this discipline.