PALACE OF THE GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY OF VENICE

PALAZZO DELLE ASSICURAZIONI GENERALI DI VENEZIA

Piazza Venezia 11

1902/06 Arturo Pazzi (XIX/XX centuries) and Alberto Manassei (1855/1939) with the participation of Guido Cirilli (1871/1954) for Marco Besso

The idea of replicating the structure of Palazzo Venezia across the square in fifteenth-century Venetian style was Giuseppe Sacconi's (1854/1905)

Built on the site of the destroyed Palazzo Nepoti and Palazzo Torlonia by Carlo Fontana

On the FAÇADE “Lion of St. Mark” of the sixteenth century from the Walls of Padua

On the right side of the building there is a PLAQUE commemorating the site of the house where the divine artist Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) lived and died

DELLA VALLE PALACE

PALAZZO DELLA VALLE

Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 101

1517/23 maybe Antonio Cordini detto Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) and Andrea Contucci aka Andrea Sansovino (1460/1529) for Cardinal Andrea Della Valle who kept in the palace his collection of ancient statues now largely in Florence

Giorgio Vasari attributed with little credibility to Lorenzo Lotti aka Lorenzetto (1490/1541)

It was left unfinished outside after the sack of Rome in 1527

It passed in 1633 to the Del Bufalo family who had it restored

Since 1948 is the headquarters of CONFAGRICOLTURA (Italian General Confederation of Agriculture), an organization that represents and protects Italian farmers

Employers associated with Confagricoltura account for two-thirds of all enterprises in the sector and employ more than 500,000 workers

SERPIERI ROOM

Coffered ceiling with rosettes, garlands and golden putti with in the center colorful coat of arms of the Cardinal

Walls painted with “Fake architecture and rural landscapes”, “Figures of warriors and female figures” and frieze with “Marine divinities and sirens” maybe by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63) or an artist of the school of Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546)

PALACE OF THE PRESS

PALAZZO DELLA STAMPA

Lungotevere de' Cenci 8

1959 Leo Calini (1903/85) and Eugenio Montuori (1907/82)

“An extraordinary example of integration of the new architecture in the consolidated fabric of the city center. The preexisting historical buildings represented by the ghetto, and the environmental requirements, determined by the presence of the Tiber, suggested the designers to adopt a different strategy to solve the two opposing fronts the building” (Giorgio Muratore)

PALACE OF THE KNOWLEDGE (third part) - St. YVES AT THE KNOWLEDGE

S. Ivo alla Sapienza

1642/55 and 1659/61 consecrated 1660, an absolute masterpiece by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) on which he worked during the three pontificates of Pope Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44), Innocent X Pamphilj (1644/55) and Alexander VII (1655/67)

“Brilliant unconventional concept space that attaches structural value to heraldic insignia” (Paolo Portoghesi)

“The interpenetration of two equilateral triangles (symbolically referring to the Trinity) led to a hexagonal star that had no precedent in the Italian architectural tradition. The shape of the star reappears clear in the entablature and continues in the dome where it reaches the maximum values of vertical tension. Outside with the light spiral structure the style of Borromini reached his peak and disconcerted his contemporaries, witnesses of a vision of space that cancels the boundaries between mass and atmosphere” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“In this reduction of multiplicity to unity, of differentiation and variety to the simplicity of the circle, consists mostly the charm of this church. Geometric conciseness and inexhaustible imagination, technical ability and religious symbolism have rarely found such a merger. You can trace the downward movement of pure forms of the heavenly area to the increasing complexity of the terrestrial zone. Decorative elements of the dome, the vertical rows of stars, the papal coat of arms above the alternate windows, the cherubim under the lantern, are fantastic, unreal and exciting and at the same time speak a clearly symbolic language” (Rudolf Wittkower)

LANTERN - SMALL TEMPLE

Six double columns, with twelve lilies and twelve columns on the entablature. Extraordinary helix-shaped spiral

“Among the various interpretations given so far (Tower of Babel, etc.) The most striking and fascinating is that, referring to the bull of Boniface VIII on the topographic centrality of the Studium umbilicus Urbis (navel of the world), links the Latin word to the rod, known as umbilicus, around which was wrapped the scroll of writing, with clear reference to the fact that study can be considered to be concluded only when the roll was read to the rod (Raspe 2000). (...) But one cannot overlook another symbolic interpretation (...): the shell fastens to the formal structure of the body of the bee, in turn, similar to the shape of a tiara: a set of symbolic meanings combined and filtered by the visibility of the form” (Antonella Pampalone)

INTERIOR

Restored 1858/60 by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) who superimposed on the original white walls a decoration with colored faux marbles. It was removed by the further restoration of the years 1967/68

MAIN ALTAR

1660, rebuilt in 1664 and in the years 1783/84 by Nicola Forti (active in Rome the second half of the eighteenth century)

Canvas (8.25 x 3.75 m - 27 x 12.3 feet) “St. Yves patron saint of lawyers and advocate for the poor receives petitions from commoners with Christ above and St. Luke (Patron dell'Archiginnasio), St. Pantaleon (patron saint of physicians) St. Leo the Great (patron saint of theologians), St. Alexander and S. Fortunato pointing to the truth contained in the volume given to him by St. Jerome” 1661 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669) finished by Giovanni Ventura Borghesi

It was placed on the high altar only in 1685 in a “Frame of ancient yellow marble” by G.B. Contini (1641/1723)

The painting had been commissioned by Alexander VII who, during the consecration, placed inside the altar the relics of the sixth pope, S. Alexander I (105/115)

PALACE OF THE KNOWLEDGE (second part) - LIBRARY OF ALEXANDER

BibliotecaAlessandrina

1959/65 Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) for Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) on the second floor to the left of the church

“It remains like Borromini had designed it. The great hall of the library is three stories high and the recessed shelves, also designed by the master, form an important part of the architecture. This was a new and important idea that he had not yet conceived when he built the library on top of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri some twenty years earlier. It was precisely this new concept that made the Biblioteca Alessandrina the prototype of the great libraries of the eighteenth century” (Rudolf Wittkower)

VAULT

“Triumph of Religion with the three theological virtues, the four evangelists and four doctors of the Church” 1662/65 by Clemente Maioli (1634/73) from Ferrara influenced by Pietro da Cortona and close to the style of Giovanni Francesco Romanelli

“Bust of Alexander VII” in 1661 by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701) embedded into a frame of golden stucco designed by Borromini

PALACE OF THE KNOWLEDGE (first part)

PALAZZO DELLA SAPIENZA

Piazza S. Eustachio 33/Corso Rinascimento 40

The ancient and first UNIVERSITÀ ROMANA (Roman University) was founded in 1303 as STUDIUM URBIS by Boniface VIII Caetani (1294/1303) with location still unknown

It was based in this site from the time of Eugene IV Coldumer (1431/47) who built the original nucleus with the proceeds of the tax on imported wine in Rome

It consisted of a house to the south of the current block but the public disputes of students were held in the vestry of St. Eustace and teachers were leading their academic life in their homes all in the same area

It remained here until 1935 when the CITTÀ UNIVERSITARIA (University City) was inaugurated (about 500 years!)

Rearranged in the years 1492/97 with some rooms on the south west side by Andrea da Firenze and his colleague Sante for Alexander VI Borgia (1492/1503)

The palace itself was begun with the portico of the courtyard in the years 1562/63 by Guidetto Guidetti (about 1498/1564) for Pius IV Medici (1559/65) who wanted Pirro Ligorio (about 1513/83) to continue it until 1567 after the death of Guidetti in 1564

It was finished for about three quarters in the years 1577/1602 by the great and underestimated Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) for Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85), Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90) e Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605)

Della Porta moved the entrance from Piazza St. Eustace to the current Corso Rinascimento

“The design intentions of Giacomo Della Porta are not documented but the close similarities with the Circus of Domitian (...) seem to underlie a dual significance, symbolical and allegorical: comparing the layout of the Studium Urbis with the ancient Agonal Circus would have made the ancient modern and set up a comparison between the abstract and the intellectual exercise” (Antonella Pampalone)

It was completed by various architects in the seventeenth century:

1602/13 Paolo Maggi (?/1613)

1614/23 Ettore Pomis

1623/31 Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641)

1631/32 Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) and Gaspare De Vecchi (active 1628/1643)

It was finally finished from 1632 to 1665 by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667) who added the Biblioteca Alessandrina (Library of Alexander) and the Church of S. Ivo alla Sapienza

Borromini came highly recommended to Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) by his friend first and enemy later Gian Lorenzo Bernini

BACK FAÇADE

1959/64 adorned with allegorical allusions to the academic disciplines and relief with “Sine wave pattern” on the parapet

“It is plausible to assume a reference to the wavy pattern in the arms of the Caetani family, the one of the Pope founder of the Studium (Raspe 2000)” (Antonella Pampalone)

ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE BUILDING

“Little fountain with books and deer symbol of St. Eustace” 1926 by Pietro Lombardi (1894/1984)

COURTYARD

Heraldic symbols placed on the parts of the building erected by the popes belonging to the six families represented: half dragons for the Boncompagni, lions' heads with pears for the Peretti executed by Ambrogio Buonvicino (about 1552/1622), eight-pointed stars for the Aldobrandini, bees for the Barberini, eagles and dragons for the Borghese, six mountains and six-pointed star for the Chigi

AUDITORIUM

In the ceiling “The four faculties aspiring to Knowledge” 1883 by Giuseppe Ferrari (1840/1905)

STUDIO ROOM

“Bust of Pope Gregory XVI Cappellari (1831/46)” maybe by Adamo Tadolini (1788/1868)

In a corridor “Bust of Victor Emmanuel II” 1885 by Lio Gangeri (1845/1913)

The current complex is home to the ARCHIVIO DI STATO DI ROMA (State Archives of Rome) with over 28,000 scrolls and about 500,000 ancient books and records dating from the ninth century to 1870, all kept in about 25 km (15.5 miles) of shelves

RINASCENTE PALACE ON PIAZZA FIUME

PALAZZO DELLA RINASCENTE DI PIAZZA FIUME

Piazza Fiume/angolo Corso Italia

1957/61 Franco Albini (1905/77) and Franca Helg (1920/89)

It is the only architectural work of Franco Albini in Rome

“Even in this building, where the architectural language is enriched by the results of a more refined technological research, one can read the relationship between modernity and tradition that is a constant theme in the reflective work of Franco Albini. La Rinascente is built within the context of the city of Rome absorbing a series of suggestions of its environment and its colors, and referring to the historical tradition of the Renaissance palaces and of the nearby Aurelian Walls” (Annette Tosto)

RINASCENTE PALACE ON LARGO CHIGI

PALAZZO DELLA RINASCENTE DI LARGO CHIGI

Largo Chigi

1885/87 Giulio De Angelis (1850/1906) and Sante Bucciarelli (1848/94)

1917 raised with an extra floor again by Giulio De Angelis

1920 cantilever roof by Pio Piacentini (1846/1928)

The INTERIORS were painted by Annibale Brugnoli (1843/1915) with paintings of which unfortunately no trace remains

It was the first department store in Rome, formerly known as STABILIMENTO BOCCONI (Bocconi Establishment) or ALLE CITTÀ D’ITALIA (To the Cities of Italy)

The first elevators and escalators ever in Rome were installed here

It was called LA RINASCENTE (The Reborning One) by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio in 1917 for its reconstruction following a fire. Similar fate had just happened shortly before to its counterpart in Milan

“He showed independent and unconventional temperament and mastery of the most advanced construction techniques, linked to the industrial production of his time. With the Bocconi building Giulio De Angelis experimented in the typology of the department store, a risk in many ways, including that of opposing rooted habits and social behaviors, and he won this very difficult comparison test, giving Rome the first building of great size fully intended for commercial use” (Giuseppe Miano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

In 2006 the building was bought for about € 125 million by the Spanish group ZARA and La Rinascente in 2010 moved across the street, in the Palazzo dell'Istituto di Beni Stabili (Galleria Alberto Sordi)

The preparation of the new store lasted about one year and the architecture has been restored to the initial design of Giulio De Angelis, a project advanced for its time in the use of steel structures in construction and with huge and bright windows

RAI PALACE

PALAZZO DELLA RAI

Viale Giuseppe Mazzini 14

1963/65 Francesco Berarducci (1924) and Alessandro Fioroni (1926/80)

In the courtyard in front of the entrance bronze sculpture “The dying horse” 1966 by Francesco Messina (1900/95)

“Although not always understood by the more modernist Italian critics, Messina led an aesthetic journey with inner security and self-consistency. Cocteau, in an exemplar essay, tracked down even in his more outlined works the Mediterranean substance of his sculpture, characterized not so much by figurative similarity, as by that particular vibration with which he solved the modeling, without ever sculpting deformed figures or yield to the risk of caricature” (Rosanna Ruscio - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

PALACE OF THE PONTIFICAL GREGORIAN UNIVERSITY

PALAZZO DELLA PONTIFICIA UNIVERSITÀ GREGORIANA

Piazza della Pilotta 4

1927 Giulio Barluzzi (1878/1953) for Pius XI Ratti (1922/39) as the new home of the University of the Jesuits also called Gregorianum

It was founded in 1551 by S. Ignatius of Loyola as a grammar school, of humanity and of Christian doctrine and called Collegio Romano (Roman College)

Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85) in 1583 endowed the university with a new and larger premises and in memory of his benefactor the Collegio Romano took later the name of Gregorian University

Pius XI wanted associated with the University, the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, but each institution is legally distinct with its own rector, its faculty and its administration

It is also attended by lay students

It overlooks Piazza della Pilotta well known already at the beginning of the sixteenth century for the ball game that took place here

Pilotta is a contraction of the Spanish word pelota

PANTANELLA PALACE

PALAZZO DELLA PANTANELLA

Piazza Bocca della Verità 16

1878/81 as the headquarters of the Società dei Molini e Pastificio Pantanella (Society of Mills and Pasta Factory Pantanella) on the site of the ancient STATIO ANNONAE headquarters of the praefectus annonae who was charged with the administration of the food supply of the city of Rome

In this area was also built later the PALACE OF NICHOLAS I (858/867)

Renovated in 1930 for the MUSEO DI ROMA (Museum of Rome) organized by Antonio Muñoz

The museum was here until 1952 when it was transferred to Palazzo Braschi

From 1952 the building was used as a WAREHOUSE FOR THE ROMA OPERA HOUSE and later for MUNICIPAL OFFICES

It is the only remnant of the small industrial center built at the end of the nineteenth century in this area. The whole area of the Circus Maximus until the thirties of the twentieth century was occupied by industrial warehouses and even by a gasometer

All buildings except the Pantanella Palace were dismantled to put emphasis on the archaeological remains

In 1930, under the palace the MITHRAEUM OF THE CIRCUS MAXIMUS of the third century AD was found. It was built by reusing existing rooms. On the back wall extraordinary relief “Mithras slaying the bull”

PALACE OF MINERVA

PALAZZO DELLA MINERVA

Piazza della Minerva 42

1280/1330 as a convent for the Dominican friars

Rebuilt in 1559 Guidetto Guidetti (about 1498/1564) for Vincenzo Giustiniani general of the Dominicans

Expanded in 1656 by Paolo Marucelli (1594/1649)

It was a seat of the Congregazione del S. Uffizio (Congregation of the Sacred Office), which met here every week and celebrated trials including the one of Galileo Galilei in 1633

In the GALILEAN ROOM the sentence was read and it was here that he abjured his heliocentric ideas immediately after to avoid the death sentence. The famous phrase yet it moves seems not to have any historical foundation

Restructured in 1860 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) who transformed it into the Pontifical College of South America

After 1870, with the adjoining BIBLIOTECA CASANATENSE (Casanatense Library) it was property of the Italian State and it became the headquarters of the Ministry of Education, of Scientific Research and Technology and of the Post Office

Today it houses offices of Members of Parliament

PALACE OF THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO

PALAZZO DELLA MANIFATTURA DEI TABACCHI

Piazza Mastai

1859/63 Antonio Sarti (1797/1880) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78)

Restored in 1927 by Pier Luigi Nervi (1891/1979) for the transformation of the building in the seat of the State Monopolies. A roof for the large room of the selection of tobacco was built

Renovated again in 1958 by Cesare Pascoletti (1898/1986) who demolished the original wings of the building

It is now the seat of the AMMINISTRAZIONE AUTONOMA DEI MONOPOLI DI STATO (Indipendent Administration of the State Monopolies) that, according to the official definition, “controls the public gaming sector in Italy through a constant check on the work of dealers and a targeted action against irregularities. It has in addition the faculty to control the production, distribution and sale of tobacco products and the collection and payment of taxes that burden it”

Just like the popes who speculated in the past on the deadly habit of tobacco, so today the Italian state profit handsomely from the same vice, albeit without monopoly, and gorges itself obscenely of the proceeds of gambling that causes havoc for many families

FARNESINA PALACE ON VIA DEI BAULLARI (third part) - GIOVANNI BARRACCO MUSEUM OF ANCIENT SCULPTURE

Second Floor

Greek Art (mostly ancient Roman copies):

“Head of the Silenus Marsyas” Antonine copy of a bronze original by Myron of Eleutere (about 500/440 BC)

“Head of the Kassel Apollo” Flavian copy from Phidias (about 490/430 BC) found during excavations at the end of the nineteenth century in the Interior Ministry on Viminal Hill

Two heads of the “Doriforo (Spearman)” copies from originals by Polykleitos of Argos (about 490/about 425 BC). The one found in the Baths of Caracalla accentuates the pathetic expressiveness of the masterpiece by Polykleitos

“This copy of the Late Hellenistic or Augustan period clearly shows the activity of the copyist in the reinterpretation of some details: it was pointed out that, in addition to extremely detailed performance of the locks, only the left side of the face can be consistently associated with a Polykleitos' setting, probably in correspondence with the angle from which the statue had to be visible. The rest of the face is charged with a pathos totally new that emphasizes the rotation of the face, the eyes more deeply hollowed, the mouth opened more, thus destructuring the solidity of the facial scheme of Polykleitos” (Lucio Fiorini)

Two heads of the “Diadoumenos” one of them, beautiful, although very worn, comes from Terracina, “Hercules”, “Athlete crowning himself” all copies from originals by Polykleitos of Argos (about 490/about 425 BC)

“Herm of Pericles” from original by Cresila

SIXTH ROOM

“Votive relief dedicated to Apollo with Latona and Diana” original attic 370/360 BC

“Head of Apollo Lyceum” by Praxiteles (about 395/326 BC)

“Wounded Bitch” Roman copy signed by Sopatro from Greek original by Lysippus (about 370/300 BC) in Pentelic marble

Pottery dating from 700 to 400 BC

SEVENTH AND EIGHTH ROOM

“Portraits of Sophocles, Euripides, Demosthenes and Epicurus”

Roman art:

“Head of a Child” maybe Nero, part of the Julio-Claudian family. It was found in the Villa of Livia Ad Gallinas Albas at Prima Porta

“Fragment of mosaic with partridges” also from the Villa of Livia Ad Gallinas Albas

“Bust of youth of the gens Julia” from Pozzuoli

“Bust of a Flavian Woman”

“Fragment of a fresco with Hermaphrodite” (second century AD)

“Funeral palmirene slabs” (third century AD) from Palmyra in Syria

In addition, “Ecclesia Romana” fragment of mosaic of the beginning of the thirteenth century from the apse of the demolished Basilica of St. Peter

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS

In the underground ruins of a Roman building of the late antiquity, perhaps a domus (house) with commercial function

FARNESINA PALACE ON VIA DEI BAULLARI (second part) - GIOVANNI BARRACCO MUSEUM OF ANCIENT SCULPTURE

MUSEO DI SCULTURA ANTICA GIOVANNI BARRACCO

Since 1948 it houses in NINE ROOMS in a collection of 380 pieces donated to the City of Rome in 1902 by Baron Giovanni Barracco (1829/1914) from Calabria

Barracco had the collaboration of two of the most recognized experts in the ancient art of the day: Wolfgang Helbig, secretary of the German Archaeological Institute and Ludwig Pollak the antiquarian discoverer of the arm of the Laocoon that bears his name

It is a small but interesting and educational museum because it allows to compare and see examples of sculpture belonging to different civilizations and periods

Ground Floor

Entrance “Apollo mutilated sitting on a rock” of the Hellenistic period from the gardens of Caesar in the Trastevere neighborhood

“Christian Sarcophagus”

“Seated Woman” from Attica (beginning of fourth century BC)

In the mezzanine two headless statues: “Little girl pouring water from a vase” and “Muse”

First Floor

Egyptian art:

Works spanning three millennia (Old Kingdom 3100/2161 BC to 30 BC)

“Stele of Nefer” scribe of Pharaoh at the table of tenders (IV dynasty 2640/2520 BC)

“Relief of the dignitary Ty” from Memphis (V dynasty 1938/1739 BC)

“Relief of the courtier Akhiti-hotep” (IV Dynasty)

“Wooden head of a lion” (XVIII Dynasty 1100 BC)

“Two canopic jars” for the entrails of the dead

“Portrait of Sethi I” (1289/1278 BC) in black granite

“Portrait of a bearded man” mistakenly believed to be Julius Caesar but, in fact, maybe a priest (Ptolemaic period 304/30 BC)

“Hourglass water of Ptolemy” found in Rome in the Iseum Campensis (Temple of Isis)

Sumerian and Assyrian Art:

Two nails for the foundation of Sumerian temples “Goddess Inamna” and “God Nirgirsu” 2000 BC

“Slab with winged genius” (IX century BC). Upper part of a frieze kept in the Vatican Museums

“Slab with three warriors on the run in a cane” (VII century BC)

“Tablets with cuneiform writing” from the time of the third dynasty of Ur (about 2050 BC)

Cypriot and Etruscan Art:

“Memorial stone from Chiusi” (V century BC)

“Female Head” antefix in limestone from Bolsena (III century BC)

“Quadriga with woman and child” polychrome from Cyprus (about 490 BC)

FARNESINA PALACE ON VIA DEI BAULLARI (first part)

PALAZZO DELLA FARNESINA AI BAULLARI

Via dei Baullari/Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 168

1522/23. The correct name would be Palazzetto Le Roy (Small Palace Le Roy) but it is also known as Piccola Farnesina

We do not know who built it, maybe Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481/1536), for the Breton prelate Thomas Le Roy (De Regis in Latin) who died before the completion of the work

The lilies of France in the first floor markers were mistaken for the lilies of the Farnese family and this was the cause of the incorrect name of the building that has absolutely nothing to do with the Farnese. Le Roy was allowed to use them because of his mediation between Pope Leo X Medici (1513/21) and King Francis I of France

From 1671 to early 1800 it belonged to the Silvestri family

In 1885 it was purchased by the City of Rome

1898/1904 Enrico Guj (1841/1905) changed it with the new FAÇADE ON CORSO VITTORIO EMANUELE II, which caused the demolition of one quarter of the building