LANCELLOTTI PALACE ON PIAZZA NAVONA

PALAZZO LANCELLOTTI A PIAZZA NAVONA

Piazza Navona 114

1552 Pirro Ligorio (about 1513/83) for Cardinal Ludovico de Torres Archbishop of Monreale, who gave a diplomatic contribution to the victory in the Battle of Lepanto connecting the Papal States to the other Christian powers

In mid-1600 the family passed to the Lancellotti family

FRESCOES

“Allegories and stories of Rinaldo and Armida” 1621/23 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) and Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

QUIRINAL PALACE (third part)

Pauline Chapel

1617 Carlo Maderno

Same size as the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican

Vault gilded in stucco with rosettes all different from each other built in 1616 by Martino Ferrabosco (active in Rome from 1606/d. 1623)

The vault should have been painted by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644) and the wall behind the altar by Andrea Commodi, the first master of Pietro da Cortona, but the project was not carried out

Monochrome frescoes on the walls “Apostles and Evangelists” 1818 by eleven painters including Tommaso Minardi (1787/1871) and Agostino Tofanelli under the direction of Raffaele Stern (1774/1820)

Four conclaves (elections of popes) took place here in the nineteenth century including the one that elected Pius IX Mastai Ferretti (1846/78)

Room of the seasons

In the vault “Seasons” and at the center “Allegory of Time” 1905 by Alessandro Palombi (active since the end of the XIX/beginning of the XX century) and Ernesto Ballarini (1845/1922)

“Bust of Gallienus (253/268)” third century AD

First Ceremonial Room

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Frieze “Stories of St. Paul” in 1616 by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

In the vault “The fruits of peace” 1906 by Alessandro Palombi and Ernesto Ballarini

Canvas “Chastity punishes love” by Francesco Mancini (1679/1758)

Room of the Virtues

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Frieze “Four virtues” 1616 by Cesare Rossetti (active 1593/1620) and “Landscapes” school of Paul Brill (1554/1626)

Vault mid-nineteenth century maybe by Alessandro Mantovani

Tapestry “Mercury petrifies Aglaurus” about 1550 by the Belgian school of Jean and Guillaume Dermoyen

COSTAGUTI PALACE

PALAZZO COSTAGUTI

Piazza Mattei 10

First half of the sixteenth century for Costanzo Patrizi, treasurer of Paul III Farnese (1534/49) who had the church of S. Leonardo De Albis demolished to build this palace

Renovated during the early seventeenth century by Carlo Lambardi (1545/1619) for the Costaguti family. They were Genoese bankers and had acquired it in 1578

It still belongs to the descendants of the family, the Marquis Afan de Rivera Costaguti

Unfortunately the palace is not visible to the general public

The original main entrance was the one on Via della Reginella

The rooms are decorated with some of the richest and most important paintings of all Roman palaces:

ROOM OF HERCULES

Painted maybe by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) or Sisto Badalocchio (1585/1645)

ROOM OF HOURS

Paintings maybe by Giacinto Brandi (1621/91) or Sisto Badalocchio

ROOM OF ARIONE

Paintings by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona

ROOM OF BACCHUS AND ARIADNE

Frescoes by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)

ROOM OF THE MONTHS

Painted by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66) and his younger brother Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)

ROOM OF VENUS AND AENEAS

Frescoes by Giuseppe Cesari aka Cavalier d'Arpino (1568/1640)

ROOM OF APOLLO

Ceiling “Chariot of the Sun” with Time revealing the Truth and Cupids about 1622 by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641) and perspectives by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

Truth escapes from Time and Night and goes toward Apollo-Sun

ROOM OF ARMIDA AND RINALDO

Ceiling “Rinaldo sleeping kidnapped by Armida” on a chariot drawn by dragons, 1621 spectacular Roman debut of Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) and perspectives by Agostino Tassi

“Centaur Nessus carrying off Deianira” by Francesco Albani (1578/1660)

BRASCHI PALACE - MUSEUM OF ROME (seventh part)

SECOND FLOOR

The Barberini Family

ROOM 1

“Investiture of Taddeo Barberini as prefect in the Pauline Chapel” about 1632 by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

“Banner with paintings about St. Francis” 1612 by Guido Reni (1575/1642)

“Joust in Piazza Navona” about 1634 by the great painter from Nettuno Andrea Sacchi (1599/1661) and by the Roman Filippo Gagliardi (about 1607/1659) aka Filippo Bizzarro o Filippo delle Prospettive

Interestingly, in this image of Piazza Navona of the first half of the seventeenth century, Palazzo Braschi, Palazzo Pamphilj, the church of S. Agnese in Agone and even the Fountain of the Four Rivers don't appear, not having been built yet

“Parade at Palazzo Barberini” about 1656 by Filippo Gagliardi and Filippo Lauri (1623/94)

“Tapestry with Barberini bees” and painting “Constantine destroys the pagan gods” about 1636 maybe by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

ROOM 2

Medals from the Barberini collection

ROOM 3

Busts of members of the Barberini family or of members of their entourage:

“Carlo Barberini” about 1630 by Francesco Mochi (1580/1654)

Carlo Barberini was the older brother of Pope Urban VIII (1623/44) appointed by him commander of the papal troops

“Bust of Cardinal Giulio Gabrielli” after 1694/before 1700 by Giuseppe Mazzuoli (1644/1725)

“Bust in marble of Cardinal Antonio Barberini junior” about 1680 maybe by Lorenzo Ottoni (1648/1736)

Nephew of Pope Urban VIII, patron of memorable and spectacular parties often produced by none other than Gian Lorenzo Bernini

“Bust in marble of Cardinal Francesco Barberini senior” about 1680 maybe by Lorenzo Ottoni

“Bust in terracotta of Taddeo Barberini Prefect of Rome in 1631” 1704 by Bernardino Cametti (1669/1736)

“Pupil in Rome of the sculptor Lorenzo Ottoni, Cametti attended his studio for fifteen years. Towards the end of this period, or immediately after, he had at his disposal a studio in the Academy of France in Rome, an extraordinary fact for an Italian artist, which explains, at least partly, the remarkable influence French sculpture had on his artistic evolution, especially the art of Pierre Etienne Monnot and Pierre Le Gros” (Robert Engass - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

VILLA OF THE AURORA

CASINO DELL'AURORA

Via Lombardia 46

House of the sixteenth century on the site of the HORTI SALLUSTIANI belonging first to Cardinal Del Nero and later to Cardinal Del Monte, who was the protector of Caravaggio hosted by him in the current Palazzo Madama

Renewed 1621/23 for the Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi

Expanded in the nineteenth century

It is all that remains of the buildings of the VILLA LUDOVISI with the Palazzo Grande now incorporated in the U.S. Embassy

GROUND FLOOR

ENTRANCE

Vault with "Janus quadrifronte"

HALL OF THE AURORA (Sala dell'Aurora)

Lovely temper "Chariot of Aurora" and, in a lunette a wonderful allegory of "Night" 1621 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino (1591/1666) with decorations imitating architecture by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644)

It was inspired by the book "Iconology" by Cesare Ripa already published in 1593 and reissued in 1618 and it was the answer to the "Aurora" which had been painted by Guido Reni seven years before for the Borghese family in the current Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi

"Guercino creates a visual effect in the infinite space: he goes beyond the Carracci solutions of images within frameworks and conceives a vast, limitless and celestial light in which the chariot of Dawn suddenly appears. The full effects of light and shadow as well as the mobility of the air give emotional quality to the representation. Moreover the extreme freedom of execution gives sketchy effects to the whole composition, especially to the beautiful pastoral landscapes that break up the rigors of architecture. Compared to the balanced and composed interpretation of Guido Reni, Guercino's one announces the suggestions of aerial illusionism. Guercino's naturalist sensibility inspired by Carracci is particularly evident in the personification of Night, where she manages to infuse a feeling of sweet melancholy evoked by the moonlight of the night sky" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

ROOM OF THE FIREPLACE or OF THE LANDSCAPES

"Four Landscapes" Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino, G.B. Viola, Paul Brill (1554/1626) and Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641)

Ceiling maybe by Antonio Circignani aka Pomarancio (about 1568/1629), son of Niccolò Circignani

The landscapes were executed before the Aurora and it was perhaps the test case for the choice of the painter of the Aurora

ROOM OF THE CUPIDS

Ceiling with "Procession of Cupids" maybe by Antonio Circignani aka Pomarancio

PIANO NOBILE

ROOM NEXT TO THE ENTRANCE (Alchemic Cabinet)

In the vault "Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto with zodiac signs" 1597 only known work painted with oil on plaster by Michelangelo Merisi aka Caravaggio (1571/1610)

Audacious and breathtaking close-up perspective view, rich in mysterious symbolism where the three faces are probably Caravaggio's self-portraits. It was cleared from the layer of soot and virtually rediscovered only in 1990 after the revealing restoration by Maria Grazia Bernardini

"Caravaggio shows a deep grasp of illusionary achievements in northern Italy, with particular reference to Giulio Romano and his frescoes in the Palazzo Te in Mantua. The theme and the interest in the chemistry of Cardinal Del Monte gave rise to many controversial allegorical interpretations" (Caravaggio Monograph - Mondadori)

"Really it must have seemed incomprehensible the natural rendition of the bodies of naked men and animals resulting not from the timeless world of classical mythology, but from observation of concrete models chosen in the Roman streets: Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto have abandoned for a moment their clothes of Roman butchers, innkeepers and porters to climb a ledge and offer Caravaggio a new perspective from which he could look at the world of the ancient gods without any awe" (Vincenzo Farinella)

HALL OF FAME

Ceiling "Fame with Honor and Virtue" by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri aka Guercino with painted architectonical decorations by Agostino Tassi