SACCHETTI PALACE

PALAZZO SACCHETTI

Via Giulia 66

1542 designed by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546) as his home

The unfinished building was sold in 1550 by his Sangallo's son, Orazio, to Cardinal Giovanni Ricci of Montepulciano treasurer of Paul III Farnese (1534/49)

Completed in 1552 maybe by Sangallo's student Giovanni Lippi aka Nanni di Baccio Bigio (about 1513/68) and his son Annibale Lippi (active in Rome in the second half of the XVI century)

NYMPHAEUM 1660 by Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91)

It belonged for nearly three decades until 1608 to the Ceoli family who enriched it with ancient sculptures and then sold it to Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese

Later it belonged to Cardinal Ottavio Acquaviva d'Aragona, and finally, from 1649, to the Sacchetti family of Florence who still owns it

The GARDEN of the palace was the first place in Rome where oleanders, very rare at the time, would be cultivated

Emile Zola chose the palace as the setting for his novel “Rome” even if with the fictitious name of Palazzo Boccanera

ATRIUM

Bas-relief “Presentation to the Senate of Caracalla by Septimius Severus (193/211)”

AUDIENCE HALL or HALL OF THE GLOBES

Masterpiece of Roman Mannerism “Stories of David” including “Bathsheba goes to King David” 1553/54 by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

“Simulating illusionistically complex decorative systems made of architecture and painted sculptures, of fake easel paintings and tapestries (behind which is a conceptual plot of meanings resulting from the complicated web of allegorical, mythological and historical themes) Salviati gave another proof of the great expressive features of Mannerism”(Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

GALLERY

Copies of sibyls and prophets from originals by Michelangelo executed by Giacomo Rocca (1592/1605)

“Holy Family” and “Adam and Eve” by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

CHAPEL

Frescoes by Agostino Ciampelli (1565/1630)

FARNESE PALACE (third part)

Camerino (Dressing Room)

First to be painted for Cardinal Odoardo Farnese with “Scenes of the myths of Hercules, Odysseus and Perseus” 1595 by Annibale Carracci who followed the theme of “The Virtues prevails over Vice” thought by the humanist Fulvio Orsini

The central painting “Hercules at the Crossroads” is at the Museum of Capodimonte in Naples

“Like any great artist, Annibale created something completely new in comparison to his models; he joined the nuanced of Correggio and the warm tonal values of the Venetians to the austere compositions and figurative concepts of late Renaissance in Central Italy, while at the same time, he knew how to give his figures sculptural qualities and plasticity one would seek in vain during the late Renaissance” (Rudolf Wittkower)

Hall of Hercules

Wooden ceiling by Jacopo Barozzi aka Vignola (1507/73) who also designed the polychrome fireplace

On either side of the fireplace statues “Abundance” and “Peace” 1555/75 by Guglielmo Della Porta (1515/77) for the tomb of Pope Paul III in the apse of the Basilica of St. Peter, but never put in place because, as Vasari wrote, “They left to be desired in chastity

Chamber of the Cardinal

1547 frieze by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66)

Hall of the Farnese Glory

Great mannerist frescoes:

“Celebration of the greatness of the Farnese family: deeds of Paul III (pope of the Council of Trent and peace of Nice between Charles V and the French King Francis I) and celebration of Ranuccio the Elder (represented in the guise of Aeneas) and Peter V Farnese” 1522/56 by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

“Here for the first time Salviati represented stories with costumes of his time, and we must admit that, despite all the exaggerations of his style of the late period, here dominate a grandeur and a pathos never achieved by any Florentine artist. The walls with frescoes are two, both divided by the same system: in the center, a figure on a throne with chained slaves (...), above, a canopy with allegories full of figures, on the sides, historical scenes, and as a crowning frieze, the usual naked bodies on their knees with medallions and festoons of fruit” (Hermann Voss)

The paintings were completed in 1563 by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66)

ECOLE FRANÇAISE DE ROME

Cultural institution located on the top floor since 1875

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS

“Boundary stone limiting the Tiber” with the name of the censors of 54 BC

Remains of large public buildings in brick with three phases of construction of which the second, Domitian, is the most important

“Mosaics of desultores (acrobats) on horseback” in relation to the near Tarentum and to the Stabula factionum the stables of the four teams of charioteers two of which were in the vicinity

The Veneta (blue) was in the area of Piazza Farnese and the Prasina (green) in the area of S. Lorenzo in Damaso

PALACE OF THE CONFESSORS

PALAZZO DEI PENITENZIERI

Via della Conciliazione 139

Begun in about 1480 maybe by Baccio Pontelli (about 1450/92) for Cardinal Domenico Della Rovere from Turin, distant cousin of Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

It hosted the King of France Charles VIII in 1495

After the death of Domenico Della Rovere in 1501 it went to Cardinal Francesco Alidosi who, suspected of treason, was assassinated in 1511 by the Duke of Urbino Francesco Maria Della Rovere, who later lived in the palace himself

Later it belonged to Cardinal Giovanni Salviati

It took its present name for the confessors transferred here by Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67)

Now it is the HOTEL COLUMBUS and the headquarters of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem

Ceiling of the ROOM OF THE DEMIGODS in the right wing with frescoes of mythological figures maybe by Bernardino di Betto aka Pinturicchio (1454/1513) who had also painted the façade with decorations now obviously disappeared

In the other four rooms on the first floor decorations also maybe by Pinturicchio and his school

On the second floor ROOM OF APOLLO with fresco in the ceiling “Apollo driving the horses of the Sun” painted in 1552 maybe by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63) for Cardinal Giovanni Salviati

VATICAN MUSEUMS - ROOMS NEAR THE SISTINE CHAPEL (first part)

ROOMS NEAR THE SISTINE CHAPEL
 

Open to the public only with special permission

 

Sala Regia

Royal Room

1540/73 begun by Antonio Cordini aka Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1483/1546). It is next to the Sistine Chapel and it was used to receive monarchs

Stucco coffered barrel vault by Pietro Bonaccorsi aka Perin del Vaga (1501/47)

Stuccos on the walls by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66)

All the paintings depict papal victories designed to remind the visiting monarchs of the papal primacy

Large historical frescoes

“Battle of Lepanto” and “Return of Gregory XI Beaufort (1370/78) from Avignon” 1571 and “Night of St. Bartholomew” 1572 by Giorgio Vasari (1511/74)

“Submission of Barbarossa to Alexander III Bandinelli (1159/81)” by Francesco de' Rossi aka Francesco Salviati (1510/63)

“Capture of Tunis” and “Henry IV in front of Gregory VII (1073/85)” and panel over the door with “Donation of Charlemagne” by Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66) with his brother Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609)

“The culmination of the artistic activity of Taddeo Zuccari coincides with the work at the Sala Regia. (...) Of his Donation of Charlemagne both the pleasing arrangement of color and the cleverly harmonious composition were appreciated. (...) Overall it is hardly a masterpiece, but compared to the work of his competitors it is pleasant, thanks to the lightness and safety of the stroke. The Taking of Tunis also shows a similar mix of strengths and weaknesses. The fresco with Henry IV in front of Gregory VII, after the death of the artist, was completed by his brother, while the two allegorical figures above the door still betray the style of Taddeo” (Hermann Voss)

“Triumph of Faith over Unfaithfulness” by Lorenzo Sabatini (about 1530/76)

Smaller pictures

“Return of the provinces to Agapito” by Orazio Sammachini (1532/77)

“Donation of Ravenna” by Girolamo Siciolante da Sermoneta (1521/80)

“The offer of Pietro d'Aragona to Eugene III (1145/53)” by Livio Agresti (about 1508/79)

“Single perfect figures, such as the warrior standing in the left foreground, are isolated, while the protagonists of the scene do not reach the same level” (Hermann Voss)

Other paintings by Marco Pino aka Marco da Siena (about 1525/87)

Aula delle Benedizioni

Room of the Blessings

Next to the Royal Room above the Atrium of St. Peter, with the same size

Damaged fresco in the upper part “Boat of the apostles” 1627/28 by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) formerly in the passage to the Chapel of Sts. Michael and Petronilla in the Basilica of St. Peter, placed here in 1721 when it was substituted with a copy in mosaic by Pietro Paolo Cristofari (1685/1743). It had in turn replaced a 1605 fresco by the poor Bernardo Castello