Begun in
1598 by Carlo Maderno (1556/1629) and completed
in 1618 for Asdrubale Mattei Duke of Giove on the site of some demolished
houses of the family
The poet
Giacomo Leopardi lived here for five months in 1823 being a relative of the
Antici Mattei family, who had inherited the palace
Since 1938
it belongs to the Italian State
In the
entrance hall, courtyard and loggia ANCIENT RELIEFS, STATUES and BUSTS from the
Mattei collection including “Sarcophagus with stories of the origins of Rome”
known as Mattei Sarcophagus on the stairs
The busts
of Roman emperors date back to the sixteenth century
The coat of
arms of the Mattei family is associated with the eagle of the Gonzaga family:
Asdrubale was, in fact, married to Constanza Gonzaga, related to the powerful
Habsburg family
IN THE ROOMS
“Jacob and
Rachel at the source” by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino
(1581/1641)
“Stories of
Joseph Jew” by Cristoforo Roncalli aka Pomarancio
(1552/1626)
“Stories of
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife” by Giovanni Lanfranco
(1582/1647)
“They show
his sense of drama, his distinctive compositional style, his attention to
archaeological detail, and his strength and clarity in the design of the main
protagonists. Individual figures as well as entire scenes seem to foreshadow
his later work and the panel with the death of Joab seems an anticipation of
the Iron Age painted in the Palazzo Pitti in 1637. Yet, although the style is
formed or in the process of training, it does lack vigor and self-confidence as
well as the energy of his mature style” (Rudolf Wittkower)
MUSIC
LIBRARY OF THE ITALIAN STATE
LIBRARY OF
MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY HISTORY
CENTER FOR
AMERICAN STUDIES
Opened by
Harry Nelson Gay, professor of history, a native of Massachusetts who had settled
in Italy in the early 1900s to teach at the University of Rome. He collected in
his library all publications of interest to the U.S. he could find
The Library
is now with over 50,000 books an important record of American culture
In
addition, a service of international borrowing offers the possibility to
consult the catalog of the most important libraries in the U.S. and ask them to
send books and photocopies, with a choice of over sixty million publications
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