Order of St. Stephen

Knight Grand Cross. Fire-gilt Copper Maltese Cross, 77×45 mm, the arms, set with red glass pastes, alternated by gilt Florentine flowers, upper crown in one-piece with the cross with marine shell-shaped finial (the Order is also known as a Naval Order), ribbon ring with rich, chiseled floral ornament, red, neck ribbon, Breast Star, 70 mm, also of fire-gilt Copper, with applied arms, set with red glasses, bright polished beams with Florentine flowers, the reverse with old, engraved inscription “LVDOVICO DA VERRAZZANO 1717”, 4 nuts retaining the obverse`s details, iron pin and two side-hooks. A beautiful set of great rarity, dating to the 18th Century, it is the most illustrious and ancient order of Tuscany, instituted by Cosimo de Medici, seigneur of Florence and 1st Duke of Tuscany. It was awarded firstly to military of the highest rank for their merits in fighting the moors in defence of Christianity and of the Commerce, besides humanitarian merits also. It was reinstituted by the Grand Duke Ferdinand III. Its chapel in Pisa is adorned with the flags and coats-of-arms of the ancient knights. Ludovico da Verrazzano was a Tuscan admiral, at the end of 17th to the early 18th Century, commander of the galleys belonging to the Order, another member of the family, Giovanni da Verrazzano (Greve in Chianti, Tuscany, 1485 – Guadalupa, 1528), was a famous navigator, whose descriptions of his travels to the New World were the first, thorough reports of the almost newly discovered territories of North America. The bridge on the Narrows in New York, opened to the traffic in 1964, known as “The Verrazano”, honours his memory and discoveries. I-/I RR!