1516/30 for
Jacopo Cardelli as a Palatium, the representative and ceremonial palace
of their real home, the Domus Magna i.e. the nearby Palazzo Cardelli
On the
death of Balduino Cardelli in 1561 the palace passed to Cosimo I de' Medici,
Grand Duke of Tuscany and it became the Roman residence of the Medici family
When the
Medici became extinct in 1737 it became property of the Lorena family
Since 1870
it belongs to the Italian state and it has been the headquarters of the Ministero
di Grazia e Giustizia (Ministry of Justice) before the construction of the
Palace on Via Arenula
Since 1929
is home to the SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI
founded in 1889 with the aim, as stated in its articles of association, “to
protect and promote the Italian language and culture in the world, reviving the
spiritual ties of compatriots abroad to Italy and feeding among foreigners love
and worship for Italian culture”
COURTYARD
and FAÇADE FACING THE GARDEN
Designed by
Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511/92) for Julius III
Ciocchi Del Monte (1550/55) who gave it in 1550 to his brother Balduino Ciocchi
Del Monte
ATRIUM
Paintings
by Prospero Fontana (1512/97), father of Lavinia
Fontana
Frescoes
and stucco in the loggia 1553/55 and frescoes in DRESSING ROOM and in the room
of the GRAND DUKE by Prospero Fontana
ROOM OF THE
ELEMENTS
Fresco in
the ceiling “Demogorgon and the separation of the elements” 1574/75 by Jacopo Zucchi (about 1542/96)
ROOM OF THE
SEASONS
Fresco in
the ceiling “Chariot of the Sun and Aurora” 1574/75 also by Jacopo Zucchi
“The
first of the two rooms was influenced by the Room of the Elements by Vasari in
the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence only with regard to the main idea. Neither the
representation of the literary program, nor the decorative arrangement show
other affinities with the decoration of the room painted by Vasari. The second
room has the Seasons as theme but it is not representing it in paintings rich
of figures, but in isolated figures, sat in round medallions. Both the first
room, so rich, and the second, simpler, reveal in the fine execution and in the
wealth of decorative detail, especially of flowers and festoons of fruit, the
miniaturist painter” (Hermann Voss)
