QUIRINAL PALACE (ninth part)

COFFEE HOUSE

1741 Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782)

Two paintings in the room on the mezzanine:

“S. Maria Maggiore” and “Piazza del Quirinale with Palazzo della Consulta” 1742 by Giovanni Paolo Pannini (1691/1765), a brilliant landscape artist

“It differs from the objective views of Van Wittel for a taste for the theatrical and decorative and for his seemingly casual handling of figurative materials, often arbitrarily combined; but his views nevertheless are widely lucky with foreign travelers: in fact, although they are often invented, they can anyway manage to make alive again the memory of the impact with the grandeur of that historic fabric, the tingle of life, the space and the light of the city” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

Five paintings by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87) in the vault of the green room

Five works by Agostino Masucci (1691/1758) in the turquoise room

SCUDERIE DEL QUIRINALE

Quirinal Stables

Begun 1722 by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) for Innocent XIII Conti (1721/24) and finished in 1730 by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)

Mutilation with removal of the semi-elliptical staircases by Fuga in 1866 by Virginio Vespignani (1808/82) for Pius IX Mastai-Ferretti (1846/78) to open Via della Dataria

The building was built on the spot where was the glorious Temple of Serapis used to stand. Some of the ancient structures are still visible

In 2000 it was redesigned by Gae Aulenti (1927/2012) as a museum for prestigious temporary exhibitions

QUIRINAL PALACE (eighth part)

TEN ROOMS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

BRONZINO'S ROOM

Ten tapestries displayed in rotation with “History of Joseph Jew” 1546 three of which designed by Jacopo Carrucci aka Pontormo (1494/1556) and the others by Agnolo di Cosimo Tori aka Bronzino (1503/72) commissioned by Cosimo I de' Medici for the Room of the Two-Hundreds in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, where are the other ten of the series are

“In these tapestries the tormented artificiality of Pontormo reaches its peak. The simplicity of the subject does not raise virtually any concern in the artist, who has become more and more convoluted and self-effacing. (...) The tapestries have a figurative pattern compressed in the vertical direction, with no clear structure or content. It is not surprising that Cosimo and the heads of the Tapestries' factory would no longer employ Pontormo” (Hermann Voss)

ROOM OF DRUSUS

SMALL PASSAGE OF URBAN VIII

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

ROOM OF THE TAPESTRIES OF LILLE

Five tapestries 1715/20 by Guillaume Werniers from models by David Teniers the Younger (1610/90)

SMALL NAPOLEONIC LIVING ROOM

PIFFETTI LIBRARY

MUSIC ROOM

ROOM OF PEACE

ROOM OF VICTORY

ROOM OF THE DAMES

Beautiful frieze “Triumph of Alexander the Great” 1812 by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770/1844)

“Admirable work for the lightness of ornament and for the variety of attitudes in the long procession inspired by the reliefs of the Parthenon” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

Chapel of Pius IX

In the MANICA LUNGA (Long Wing) with five major paintings:

On the right “Madonna with Saints” 1603 maybe by Innocenzo Tacconi (active in Rome 1607/25) and “The Birth of the Virgin” 1643 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

On the altar “Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine of Alexandria with Sts. Jerome and Lucy” 1779 by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)

On the left “Annunciation” by Carlo Maratta 1673 (1625/1713) and “Apparition of the Virgin to St. Lawrence” 1617 by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647)

Garden

“Fountain of the organ” 1596 with hydraulic parts by Giovanni Fontana (1540/1614), brother of Domenico Fontana and expert in hydraulic, with decorations by Giovanni da Neri for Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605)

QUIRINAL PALACE (sixth part)

Room of Hercules

Coffered ceiling and frieze with trophies 1940 by Cesare Maria Crestini

Paintings over the doors “Six stories of Aeneas” brought here in 1893 from the Savoy residences:

“Aeneas sacrifices to Apollo”, “ Venus appears to Aeneas as Diana”, “Aeneas and Dido caught by the storm”, “Mercury appears to Aeneas”, “Venus deliveries the weapons to Aeneas” and “Departure of Aeneas from Carthage” 1735/38 all sublime masterpieces by Corrado Giaquinto (1703/66)

“It is with the musical theater here that the painter seems to relate more explicitly than in his other works. (...) A new aesthetic marked by the desire to affirm the seriousness of art and to restore expressive decorum starting right from the reform of opera. His characters exemplify, in terms of behaviors, a way of feeling graceful and sensitive, according to the rules of society. The Arcadian world that reigns in these paintings is made of a mixture of subtle tones in which everything is blurred and in where the epic is transformed, rejecting the extremes of tragedy and comedy” (Sara Parca)

Three tapestries from the left “Stories of Apollo”, “Stories of Minerva” and “Stories of Hercules” beginning of the eighteenth century by the Gobelins Manufactory in Paris

Hall of the Chests

It takes its name from the five chests of the sixteenth and seventeenth century

In this room Pius VII Chiaramonti (1800/23) was arrested by the French on July 9, 1809

Busts “Hector” and “Paris” beginning of nineteenth century by Pietro Fontana

Four French tapestries 1743/47 by the Gobelins manufactory in Paris

Tapestry with “History of Don Quixote” 1773 by the royal manufactory of Naples

MASCHERINO'S STAIRS

1583/85 by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606)

Loggia of Honor

The center of the Gregorian Small Palace, the oldest part of the palace built by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino for Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85)

Ceiling “Allegory of the Arts” 1908 by Ernesto Ballarini (1845/1922)

QUIRINAL PALACE (fourth part)

Room of the Flood or Carracci’s Room

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Vault painted in the mid-nineteenth century by Annibale Angelini (1812/84) and Alessandro Mantovani

Frieze “Stories of the Old Testament” in 1616 by Antonio Carracci (about 1589/1618), son of Annibale Carracci and by an anonymous follower of Caravaggio who also worked on the central fresco in the vault “Angels upholding the papal coat of arms”

“Bust of Commodus (180/192)” beginning of the third century AD

“Four Chinese porcelain vases” of the Kang-Hsi Dynasty (1662/1722)

Room of the Loggias

Incredible vault with false loggias 1861 by Annibale Angelini (1812/84)

Frieze and a central decoration of the vault 1616 by Bernardo Castello (about 1557/1629)

Painting “St. John the Baptist accompanied by the angel”

Room of the Bussolanti (Porters of the Pope)

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Frieze and vault by Bernardo Castello

“Stories of St. Benedict” in the frieze 1851 by Alessandro Mantovani

Room of the Balcony

Vault in stucco 1616 maybe by an unknown artist of the school of Martino Ferrabosco

“Departure of David” and “Triumph of David” maybe by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)

Small Lounge of St. John

Vault 1616 with paintings added in the nineteenth century by Annibale Angelini (1812/84)

“St. John the Baptist” copy from Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) (1483/1520) maybe by Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546)

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

QUIRINAL PALACE (second part)

INTERIOR OF THE PALACE

In the palace there are:

261 tapestries, Italian, Flemish and French, one of the most important collections in the world

About 38,000 pieces of porcelain

About 300 pre-1800s paintings including works by:

Giulio Pippi aka Giulio Romano (1499/1546), Simon Vouet (1590/1649), Francesco Mancini (1679/1758), G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709), Jacques Courtois aka Borgognone (1628/79), Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647), Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669), Carlo Maratta (1625/1713) and Pompeo Batoni (1708/87)

About 1900 paintings, drawings and sculptures from the 1800s and 1900s including:

Sculpture “Sad Peri” 1870 by Odoardo Tabacchi (1831/1905) and works by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1799/1873), Giacomo Balla (1871/1958), Arturo Martini (1889/1947), Mino Maccari (1898/1989), Mario Sironi (1885/1961), Mario Mafai (1902/65), Giacomo Manzù (1908/91), Fausto Pirandello (1899/1975), Giuseppe Capogrossi (1900/72), Alberto Ziveri (1908/90), Felice Casorati (1883/1963) and Francesco Trombadori (1886/1961)

Courtyard

Porch with left wing 1589 by Domenico Fontana and right wing 1605/09 by Flaminio Ponzio

Clock with six hours in the Roman way with mosaic 1696 by Giuseppe Conti from a Carlo Maratta painting now in the storage of the Vatican Museums

STAIRCASE OF HONOR

Fragment of fresco “Christ in Glory” from the apse of the Basilica of the Holy Apostles by Melozzo degli Ambrosi aka Melozzo da Forlì (1438/94)

Cuirassier Hall or Royal Hall

Designed by Carlo Maderno

Large frieze “Ambassadors from all over the world” and round panels “Stories of Moses” 1616/17 by Agostino Tassi (1578/1644), Giovanni Lanfranco (1582/1647) and Carlo Saraceni (1579/1620) with the collaboration of Alessandro Turchi aka Orbetto (1578/1649), Giovanni Antonio Galli aka Spadarino (1585/about 1653) and Fra' Paolo Novelli with the painted cornice recovered during the 2006 restoration

“The decorative frame of the frieze designed by Tassi in its abundant organization on the short walls reveals his Florentine late mannerist education, whilst the prospects that are opening in imaginary rooms on the long walls show that he was influenced by the illusionism of northern Italy. It is not easy to establish as Lanfranco and Saraceni had divided the work of figures and scenes: we are confronted with an entente cordiale (friendly understanding) between a pupil of Carracci and a follower of Caravaggio under the direction of a Roman who had studied in Florence. One can add that rarely a Caravaggio follower was considered able to carry out jobs for public frescoes of this kind” (Rudolf Wittkower)

Large lunette relief brought here from the Gregorian Chapel of the Basilica of St. Peter in 1619 with “Washing of the Feet” 1578 by Taddeo Landini (about 1550/96)

“Angels” over the lunette on the left by Guillaume Berthelot (about 1570/1648) and on the right by Pietro Bernini (1562/1629)

French tapestries “Cupid and Psyche” and “Don Quixote” of the eighteen century

“Coat of arms of Italian cities” about 1880 by Gaetano Lodi

In the splays of the windows “Grotesque” by Annibale Duranti

QUIRINAL PALACE (first part)

PALAZZO DEL QUIRINALE

Piazza del Quirinale

1573/77 begun by Martino Longhi the Elder (1534/91) as the summer residence of the popes

It was built over the demolished fifteenth-century villa of Cardinal Oliviero Carafa which had later belonged to Orazio Farnese, nephew of Paul III (1534/49), and to Cardinal Ippolito d'Este

1578/85 continued by Ottaviano Nonni aka Ottaviano Mascherino (1524/1606), who designed the so-called PALAZZINA GREGORIANA (Gregorian Small Palace) for Gregory XIII Boncompagni (1572/85)

It would later be used as accommodation, first for the kings of Italy and later for the Presidents of the Republic

Under Alexander VII Chigi (1655/67) Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669) directed the decorations in the Gallery of Alexander VII

It was the PAPAL RESIDENCE for 278 years, from 1592 with Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605) until 1870 when it became the residence of the Savoy family

In 1938 Adolf Hitler was a guest on the main floor of the small palace built by Mascherino under the clock tower and, for the occasion, restorations were carried out and new marble floors were made

Since 1947 it has been the RESIDENCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC

It was built on the site of the ancient TEMPLE OF SALUS

EXTERIOR OF THE PALACE

WING FACING THE SQUARE AND FAÇADE

1589 Domenico Fontana (1543/1607) for Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90)

WING FACING THE GARDEN

1609/11 Flaminio Ponzio (1560/1613) for Paul V Borghese (1605/21)

WING FACING VIA DEL QUIRINALE

1615/17 Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) also for Paul V, in place of the deceased Flaminio Ponzio

TOWER

1626 Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44)

1615 PORTAL by Carlo Maderno

1638 BENEDICTION LOGGIA by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

“Statue of St. Peter” by Stefano Maderno (1560/1636) and “Statue of St. Paul” by Guillaume Berthelot (about 1570/1648)

Manica Lunga (Long Wing)

Begun 1659 by Bernini, continued by Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) and finished by Ferdinando Fuga (1699/1782) who was also responsible for the construction, at the short north end of the wing, of a BUILDING FOR OFFICES OF THE SEGRETARIO DELLE CIFRE (Accounting Secretary) who used to take care of the diplomatic correspondence of the Holy See