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)

BRASCHI PALACE (first part)

PALAZZO BRASCHI

Piazza S. Pantaleo 10

1791/96 Cosimo Morelli (1732/1812) for Pius VI Braschi (1775/99) who wanted a home for his nephew Luigi Braschi Onesti

A previously existing building dating to 1435 which belonged to the Orsini family was demolished. It had been enlarged in 1501 by Cardinal Carafa and had a tower by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

Cosimo Morelli was from Imola, the same area from which the pope came, and he was also the architect of the Cathedral of Imola and those of Macerata and Fermo, as well as the theaters of Imola, Fermo and L'Aquila

“Morelli drew models from famous Roman buildings of the sixteenth century, with citations of works in Emilia, through a selection process aiming to reduce everything to a simple and correct style. Trying to blend simplicity and monumental, in the façades made in travertine and brickwork, with use of ashlar, he made the architectural elements busier and reversed what had been the Renaissance grandeur” (Davide Righini - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

Completed 1802/11 by Giuseppe Valadier (1762/1839) for the Duke Luigi Braschi Onesti

It was the last Roman palace to be commissioned by a family of popes

It was sold by the heirs of the family Braschi to the Italian State in 1871, and for fifty years it was the headquarters of the Ministry of Interior

In 1930 it became the seat of the Fascist Federation of Rome

Immediately after the armistice of 8 September 1943 it was occupied by the minions of Gino Bardi and Guglielmo Pollastrini, two fascist thugs who reconstituted the Fascist Federation of Rome. So a reign of terror began and the palace was the seat of prison and torture at the hands of the so-called banda di Palazzo Braschi (gang of Palazzo Braschi)

After the war three hundred homeless families lived in the palace until 1949, causing serious damage to the decorations

PAINTED DECORATIONS ON ALL THREE FLOORS OF THE BUILDING by the painter Liborio Coccetti (1739/1816) from Foligno, begun as early as 1791. The four rooms on the first floor cannot be attributed to him with certainty

“In his early work in Umbria he expressed himself in a language that shows full participation to the rococo culture, with remarkable results for panache and finesse, and shows, especially in the paintings on historical themes, relations with the Roman culture of the first half of the eighteenth century, especially with Sebastiano Conca. On an unspecified date he moved to Rome, where the patronage of Pope Braschi won him important commissions. (...) Since 1779 he had a succession of prestigious jobs in Rome and Lazio, in which shows a progressive approach to the neoclassical style. It can be said that there was no Roman family wishing to upgrade their townhouse or country that did not ask for his work” (Vittorio Casale - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

OTHER FRESCOES

“Stories of Love and Psyche” about 1610 by Ludovico Cardi aka Cigoli (1559/1613) and “Annunciation of the Virgin” school of Federico Zuccari (about 1542/1609) and Taddeo Zuccari (1529/66)

FIRST FLOOR

CHAPEL designed by Giuseppe Valadier

During the fascist regime it became the chapel of the fallen fascists

On the right “St. Francis” by Guido Reni (1575/1642)

On the altar “Ivory Crucifix” of the eighteen century

Every Sunday morning at 11 Mass is celebrated here