Built in the first half of the 16th century by Bartolomeo Lanfranchi, this palazzo is situated directly opposite Palazzo Lanfranchi, built by his son Alessandro on the other side of the river. In 1505 Bartolomeo purchased a five-storey domus on the Lungarno with loggia, a well and relevant facilities. The first alterations, by the architect Giovan Battista Cervelliera, were carried out in 1560 then, in 1576 Albizzo and Giovanni Lanfranchi created the luxurious mansion with a new facade overlooking the river.
Francesco Mosca, nicknamed “Meschino” designed a ‘modern’facade, with rusticated stone corners from roof to ground and an array of stone. His grey mouldings in hard sandstone can still be seen around the doorway, on the balcony, in the frame of the French windows, the window surrounds and the cornerstones.
The building takes its name from the Toscanelli family, builders, part of the emerging middle class, who bought it in 1827. In the 19th century, during renovation by the architect Alessandro Gherardesca, the sandstone window mouldings were replaced with marble in the neoclassical style, no longer visible. Inside, the palazzo was restructured and it became the sumptuous home of Giovan Battista Toscanelli and his wife Angiola Cipriani.
On the ceilings there are frescoes by Nicola Cianfanelli, Gaspero Martellini e Annibale Gatti showing Byron and poetry, the Apotheosis of Galileo and The apotheosis of Michelangelo. The design of this building is attributed - without any proof - to Gatti. The sculpture by Tribolo of a Harpy riding a toad, now in the Palazzo Blu collection, originally came from this palazzo. Since 1913 it has been occupied by Pisa State Archives (Archivio di Stato di Pisa).