PALAZZO PFANNER
The construction of Palazzo Pfanner dates back to 1660. It was the Moriconi family, members of the Lucchese merchant patriciate, who commissioned it. Overwhelmed by the economic failure, they were forced in 1680 to sell the building to the Controni, also silk merchants who had risen to the rank of nobility. The Contronis dedicated themselves to the expansion of the building: around 1686 they supervised the works for the construction of the monumental staircase based on a project, it is assumed, by Domenico Martinelli, an architect and engineer from Lucca known for his intense activity at the European courts of Vienna and Prague; in the early eighteenth century they commissioned, in all probability to Filippo Juvarra, the redevelopment of the rear garden; in the same period they entrusted the frescoing of the vaults of the staircase and of the interiors of the noble residence to local 'quadraturist' painters. It is in the residence that the Controni family, in 1692, hosted Prince Federico of Denmark passing through Lucca during his Grand Tour, famous for his "flirtation" with the young local Maria Maddalena Trenta.
The story of the Pfanner family intertwined with the centuries-old history of the building in the mid-nineteenth century. It was in fact Felix Pfanner (1818-1892), a native of Hörbranz (Austria), but of a Bavarian family, who gradually bought the entire structure after having installed, starting from 1846, his brewery, the first of the Duchy of Lucca and a of the first in Italy. The historic Pfanner Brewery, a pleasant place of production and serving located between the garden and the cellars of the building, closed in 1929.
The building is still owned by the Pfanner family who, starting from 1995, undertook a demanding restoration work, also promoting its enhancement by opening it to the public and organizing exhibitions and concerts.

THE GARDEN OF PALAZZO PFANNER
The garden develops between the current palace to the south and the urban walls to the north, as can already be seen in the Sinibaldi map of 1843. Once past the entrance gate, an area paved with squared stones opens up, in which there are four terracotta pots with cycas plants, which delimit the access path to the garden. This is geometrically divided into seven large rectangular spaces bordered by straight paths. The green area in front of the building is divided into four grassy areas, bordered by boxwood and laurel hedges, with an octagonal basin in the center, decorated with four allegorical statues representing the elements: Vulcan (fire), Mercury (air), Dionysus (land) and Ocean (water). Near the palace are the statues of the allegory of the four seasons.
Within the grassy areas, in addition to seasonal blooms, there are yew plants, pines, fruit trees and magnolias. On the opposite side of the entrance, leaning against the surrounding wall, there is the lemon house, surmounted by a balustrade on which lions stand and in the center a basilisk, emblem of the Controni. On the sides of the wooden portal there are two niches containing the statue of Hercules on the right and that of Cybele on the left. The two main avenues that define the grassy spaces are bordered by numerous pots containing lemon and rose plants.
Due to its architecture and large garden it was used by many directors as the "palace of the papal nobility". For example, it is the palace of the Marquis del Grillo in the homonymous film with Alberto Sordi (1981), the residence of the Sant'Agata family in Luigi Magni's Arrivano i bersaglieri and the garden in Portrait of a lady with Nicole Kidman from 1996.

Height:	19.69
Inside the basin depth:	7.48
Weight:	33.07
Manufacturing:	Recuperando srl
internal diameter of the mouth:	19.29
External mouth diameter:	23.62
Material:	Terracotta dell'Impruneta
Note 01:	Fatto a mano
Square base:	14.96
Where the original is kept:	0
Museum where the Original is exhibited:	0