1732/34
most important early work of Ferdinando Fuga
(1699/1782) for Clement XII Corsini (1730/40)
The
building was financed with the proceeds of the lottery and it replaced the Palazzo
di Vercelli of the Ferrero family from Piedmont where the Cardinal of
Vercelli Guido Luca Ferrero resided
On the
façade of Palazzo di Vercelli there were originally frescoes painted in 1517 by
Polidoro da Caravaggio (about 1495/1543)
“Fifteenth
century echoes are in the façade, reconstructed with a sense of balance and
elegance typically Tuscan. Fuga carries out a research for formal purity and
rational measure” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
“The easy
virtuosity of Fuga resulted in this first phase of his career in a very refined
style with a touch of Tuscan sophistication, so different from the skillful
liveliness of Valvassori and from the Roman sense of the grandeur of Salvi”
(Rudolf Wittkower)
It was the
seat of the Tribunale della Sacra Consulta (Tribunal of the Holy See)
From 1874
it was the seat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and since 1922 of
the Ministry of the Colonies, which in 1937 was renamed Ministry of
Italian Africa
In 1923 the
Colonial Museum was inaugurated inside the building
Since 1955
is the SEAT OF THE CORTE COSTITUZIONALE (Supreme Court)
The
original color of the FAÇADE was baby blue, common to many Roman
eighteenth-century buildings
On the
pediment of the portal “Justice” and “Religion” by Francesco
Maini
On the side
portals “Trophies” by Filippo Della Valle
(1698/1768)
On the
balustrade above “Group with two allegorical figures of Fame and Corsini coat
of arms” by the Neapolitan Paolo Benaglia
(?/1739)
In the
COURTYARD splendid double staircase inspired by the exterior staircase of the
Palazzo del Gallo of Roccagiovine by the flamboyant Alessandro Specchi
THREE DECORATIVE
PHASES:
1) Ceilings
1737/44 by Antonio Bicchierari for Clement XII
2) “Works
of Pius VI” and decorations on the ceilings 1787/90 by Bernardino
Nocchi (1741/1812) for Pius VI Braschi (1775/99). Bernardino Nocchi also
painted the ornamentations that framed the existing paintings by Bicchierai
3)
Paintings with floral and narrative subjects to celebrate industrial progress 1870/74
by Cecrope Barilli (1839/1911), Domenico Bruschi (1840/1910) and Annibale Brugnoli (1843/1915). Because of this
intervention, most of the previous decorative cycles were destroyed
“In the
layout of the rooms, the architect was able to overcome all the difficulties
determined by the site plan with intelligence, also exploiting the wedge-shaped
areas” (Simona Sperindei)
In the THIRD
ANTECHAMBER “Lagoon of Venice” by Achille Vertunni
(1826/97)
In the FOURTH
ANTECHAMBER “Portrait of Queen Margherita of Savoy” by Guglielmo
De Sanctis (1829/1911)
In the STUDIO
OF THE PRESIDENT “May” by Giacomo Balla
(1871/1958)
In STUDY OF
THE VICE-PRESIDENT “Battle” by Giovanni Fattori
(1825/1908) and two “Portrait of Girl” by Jean Baptiste
Greuze (1725/1805)
In the RED
LOUNGE beautiful painting influenced by Caravaggio “Magdalene with the crown of
thorns” first half of the seventeenth century by Bartolomeo
Cavarozzi (1587/1625)
In the
GREEN LOUNGE “Head of boy” in marble by Domenico
Trentacoste (1859/1933) from Palermo. At the center of the room “Table
with inlaid marble” of the sixteenth century from Florence
In the
ANTECHAMBER OF THE STUDY OF A JUDGE huge painting “Landscape with lake” by Achille Vertunni