1503 for
Giovanni de' Medici, the future Pope Leo X (1513/21) from a building of the
fifteenth century
It was
enlarged in 1512
It owes its
name to Madame Margaret of Austria (1522/86), daughter of Charles V, the widow
of Alessandro de' Medici and then wife of Ottavio Farnese, who was the nephew
of Pope Paul III Farnese (1534/49). She lived in the palace from 1541 to 1550
Restructured
in the years 1637/42 Paolo Marucelli (1594/1649)
who worked from a project by Ludovico Cardi aka Cigoli
(1559/1613) for the Grand Duke of Florence, Cosimo II Medici and his son
Ferdinand II
“The
'facies' (general appearance) of the building reflects the need of the Grand
Duke and cardinals to assert a Tuscan identity, adapting it to the Roman
location and to the plasticity of the Baroque era. (...) It is apparent from
recent archival research that Marucelli alternated the role of designer to the
Director in charge of construction, coordinating artists and craftsmen working
under his guidance in other important contemporary Roman sites, such as the
sculptor Cosimo Fancelli (...) The bad critique of Marucelli began at least
from Milizia who judged negatively façade and courtyard of Palazzo Madama and
lasted into the twentieth century from Portoghesi to Ruschi. A deeper
understanding of his work must necessarily start from the studies of Connors
and can lead to see him as an interpreter of a seventeenth century balanced
between late fifteenth century classicism, with strong references to the work
of Palladio, and baroque eclecticism” (Laura Traversi - Dizionario Biografico
degli Italiani Treccani)
On the FAÇADE
there are over a hundred figures of lions including the skin of the Nemean lion
carved on the entrance door, which recalls the myth of Hercules and are
consistent with the face of Omphale whose braids surround a window
Hercules
and Omphale generated Tyrrhenus, mythical ancestor of the Etruscan (in Greek Tyrsenoi),
from whom the Medici traced their genealogy
Omphale
kept Hercules for three years as his slave. The submission of Heracles was such
that he was forced to dress as a woman and humbled to spin wool while Omphale
dressed the manly lion skin of Hercules
At the end
of 1500 the palace was home of Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, who hosted
Caravaggio here from 1595 until 1600
From 1737
it belonged to the Lorraine family, then it was the seat of the papal
government, the seat of the papal court and police headquarters and from this
comes the Roman dialect word madama (lady) as to indicate the police
Since 1849 it
was the Ministry of Finance and on
the external loggia the extraction of the lottery used to take place
It was
expanded in 1905 toward S. Luigi dei Francesi
It is the
seat of the SENATE OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC
COURTYARD
OF HONOR
Statue “Great
squat figure” 1971 by Emilio Greco (1913/95)
SENATE
CHAMBER
Obtained
from the original courtyard by Luigi Gabet
(active 1858/78)
MACCARI
ROOM
Ceiling:
“Four round
panels” with allegorical figures (trade, agriculture, weapons, arts, sciences
and the arts), arranged around a central motif, symbolizing Italy
Along the
frieze there are sentences of Guicciardini and Machiavelli
Three large frescoes:
“Appius
Claudius the Blind conducted in the Senate”, “Regulus advises the Roman Senate
resistance against Carthage” and “Cicero inveighs
against Catiline”
Two small frescos:
“Senator
Papirius Gallo impassive as the Celts invade Rome” and “Attempt to corruption
of the Samnites against Curio Dentato to convince the Romans to peace” all made
in the years 1882/88 by the Sienese artist Cesare
Maccari (1840/1919)
MARCONI
ROOM
Ceiling and
seventeenth-century frieze
In the
frieze “History of Pius IV Medici (1559/65)” maybe by Pietro
Paolo Baldini (about 1614/about 1684)
ANTECHAMBER
OF THE BALUSTRADE
Seventeenth-century
frieze
Painting “Salome
with the Head of John the Baptist” by the Florentine Carlo
Dolci (1616/86)
ROOM OF THE
POSTERGALI
The name of
the room is given by the postergali, or headboards of a
seventeenth-century choir preserved here
It occupies
part of the area where the church of S. Salvatore in Thermis used to be.
It was destroyed at the end of 1800s because, being adjacent to the palace, it
could have posed a threat of terrorist attacks
Two
paintings with views of the “Roman Forum” and of the “Baths of Diocletian” by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765)
ROOM OF THE
OSTRICH
Painting “Etna
eruption” by Corrado Cagli (1910/76)
ROOM CAVOUR
Oval in the
center of the ceiling “Bacchus and Ariadne” by G.B.
Pittoni (1687/1767)
The room is
available to members of the government during sessions and sometimes here the
Council of Ministers is held
PANNINI’S ROOM
Ceiling
fresco “Allegory of the Chariot of the Sun” 1725/26 by Giovanni
Paolo Pannini (1691/1765)
The fresco
was originally in the Palazzo Bachetoni which was demolished in 1926 for
the opening of Via del Tritone
STUDY OF
THE PRESIDENT
“Portrait
of a Man” by Gerrit Van Honthorst aka Gherardo Delle Notti (1590/1656)
“Give to
Caesar what is Caesar's” by Luca Giordano
(1634/1705)
BUVETTE
“Fountain”
by Vincenzo Gemito (1852/1929
LIBRARY
Arranged
by Gaetano Koch (1849/1910). Since 2006 it is
called Geopolitics Room
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