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Home , Adrien Manglard, Carlo Maderno, Colonna (rione of Rome), Domenico Fontana, Ferdinando Fuga, Liberty style

ALAZZI OF THE PRome’s Major Government EPUBLIC Buildings R

AZIENDA DI PROMOZIONE TURISTICA DI ROMA The Quirinale is the seat of the President of the Republic,

the highest institution of the Italian state

and therefore the "House of all ",

the point of reference for all citizens

in developing an affinity with public institutions.

I am firmly convinced that the attitude towards public institutions

is central to the history of society

and the history of a people.

The values of civilised society reside in our consciences,

and come alive only in a context of real human relationships

and of belief in public institutions

and their importance.

We create public institutions to organise our civil life

and to ensure that the fundamental principles common

to everyone's conscience are coupled

with an awareness of the rules of living together,

and therefore of the institutions

which regulate the life of a community.

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi President of the Italian Republic PALAZZI OF THE REPUBLIC

CONTENTS

Quirinale Palace pag. 3 Presidency of the Republic

Palazzo Madama ” 9 Senate of the Republic

Palazzo Montecitorio ” 15 Chamber of Deputies

Palazzo della Consulta ” 21 Constitutional Court

Palazzo Chigi ” 27 Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) THE QUIRINALE PALACE Presidency of the Republic

THE SITE IN ANTIQUITY renowned as the biggest temple The Quirinale Palace stands on one complex in the city; and the baths of the peaks of the hill of the same of Constantine, built around name, the highest and largest of the year 315 on the nor- ’s seven hills. Its name pro- thern slopes of the bably derives from the cult of the Quirinal, in the area god Quirinus, worshipped in the today partly occupied Sabine city of Cures. The Sabines by Palazzo Rospigliosi came from this area to join the first Pallavicini. Apart from the inhabitants of the hill at the begin- numerous and important religious ning of the Iron Age. According to constructions, the area was also tradition, they later joined up with occupied by residential buildings. the Latini of the , at the The many stately homes included time of Romulus. In the fourth cen- those of the gens Flavia, Pomponius tury B.C. a temple to Quirinus was Atticus and Fulvius Plautianus. Top: located near the site of the seven- These structures were mostly the tower clock is in the traditional teenth-century of Sant’An- destroyed in the barbarian inva- Roman style drea al Quirinale. The area corre- sions of the fifth century; their ruins Bottom: sponding to today’s Piazza del remained the defining physical fea- one of the Dioscuri Quirinale and the buildings around ture of the hill. In the Middle Ages from Roman times it was occupied by a succession of the Quirinal was given the name Bottom left: various buildings in ancient times: “Montecavallo” or “Horse Hill”, due view of Piazza del Quirinale in the 17thC. a temple dedicated in the fifth cen- to the presence of statues of the Dioscuri Castor and Pol- lux, figured holding the reins of restless horses. Although tradition - and the engraving at the sta- tues' base - attributes them to the Greek sculptors Phydias and Praxiteles, Castor and Pollux were in fact made in Rome in the tury B.C. to the Sabine god Semo third century A.D. as an adornment Sancus; a temple to the goddess to the temple of Serapis. They were Salus in the fourth century B.C.; the restored and retouched on a num- temple of Serapis, built in the third ber of occasions over the years, and century by the emperor Caracalla, were placed by Pius VI ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC on the eastern slopes of the hill, Braschi at the head of the 3 R THE QUIRINALE PALACE Presidency of the Republic

in the piazza. There is also an obe- and cultured individuals, who lisk from the Mausoleum of chose the Quirinal not only for its Augustus atop a granite basin trans- healthy climate, but also for the ferred from the in atmospheric charm provided by 1818. The hill was gradually aban- the antique ruins. The first doned over the course of the Archeological Academy of Rome, Middle Ages. While the ruins of the later the Greek Gymnasium, was ancient buildings were stripped for established in the literary salon at raw materials, the hill’s elevated the house of the humanist Pom- position strategically close to the ponio Leto, for example. city-centre favoured the establish- ment on its slopes of churches and HISTORY OF THE PALAZZO monasteries (now no more), as well Architecture and decoration as the construction of towers, by The original core of the Quirinale noble families of which the Torre Palace can be traced back to a delle Milizie in Largo Magnanapoli “vigna” belonging to the Carafa and the Torre in Via IV family at the end of the fifteenth Novembre remain today. century. Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, From the end of the fifteenth cen- who had amassed a valuable col- tury, suburban villas, known until lection of antique statues, reliefs the nineteenth century as “vigne”, and inscriptions, entertained his began to be built on the top of the literary friends in the villa. In 1550, hill. These complexes consisted of the villa was rented out to Cardinal a luxury residence, the “lodge” pro- Ippolito d’Este who transformed it per, gardens and agricultural land. into one of Rome’s finest suburban They belonged mostly to eminent residences.

Right: view of the gardens with the “Fontana di Caserta”

4 In particular, the Cardinal oversaw out under the papacy of Urban VII the planning of the gardens, Barberini, who was mostly concer- famous at the time for their magni- ned with strengthening the defensi- ficent tree-lined avenues, rare ve structures of the building. A wall plants, and antique was erected around the gardens, sculptures. In 1572 Pope Gregory and on the piazza a circular tower XIII Boncompagni, who had been was built for the use of the artillery a frequent guest of the Cardinal, division which guarded the main was allowed to establish his sum- entrance. mer residence there, although the In 1638, , a actual purchase of the land did not favourite artist of the Barberini take place until 1587. family, designed the Loggia delle The Pope charged the architect Benedizioni above the main door- Ottavio Nonni, known as il way, with a relief figuring the mascherino, with constructing a Madonna and Child. building which would incorporate The palace was enlarged along Via the existing structures, and would del Quirinale with the construction have the form of a of the so-called “Manica Lunga”, a suburban villa, with two floors and 360-metre long wing finished by an airy open gallery. The house is in 1732. At the dominated by the tall “torrino”, to end of the Manica Lunga, Fuga which the gabled bell-tower was built the Villa del Segretario della added in the seventeenth century. Cifra, residence of the prelate in The national flag and the presiden- charge of the Pope’s diplomatic tial standard fly there today. The correspondence. Today the buil- Top: architect had planned a long rec- ding houses the residence and pri- the tower with the gabled belfry and clock tangular courtyard in front of the vate offices of president of the villa, flanked by two buildings. The Italian Republic. In the gardens Bottom: the private office project was taken up again, with Fuga built the Coffee House, a buil- of the President some modifications, during the ding for the Pope's leisure and relax- of the Italian Republic papacy of Sixtus V Peretti, by ation, decorated with paintings by who built the Agostino Masucci, Giovanni Paolo wings on the square and on Via del Pannini and Pompeo Batoni. Quirinale, then called Strada Pia. The Quirinale Palace was disconti- Under Paul V Borghese, at the nued as a papal seat in 1811, when beginning of the seventeenth cen- the Napoleonic government decla- tury, the parallel garden wing was red Rome the second city of the finally built by . In empire and chose it as the residen- 1615 , who assumed ce of the emperor. The architect control of the site after Ponzio’s Raffaele Stern was charged with death, designed the main entrance, adapting the Palace to the demands adorned with statues of Saints Peter and tastes of the new tenant and his ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC and Paul. More work was carried court. The imperial apartments 5 R THE QUIRINALE PALACE Presidency of the Republic

were built to this end, on the main dence with the idea of turning it floor of the Gregorian villa. It is one into a proper royal palace, model- of the most successful examples of led after the great courts of Europe. the neoclassical style in Rome. The Pauline wing, the one facing Among the artists who worked on onto the garden, felt the greatest Centre of page: particular of the it under Stern’s direction were effects of the changes which gave a gilt stuccoed ceiling Jean-Dominique Ingres, Bertel lavish neo-rococo feel to many of the Pauline Chapel Thorwaldsen and Felice of its rooms: the Piedmontese Bottom: Giani. For the apartments Hangings Room, the particular of the frieze and a wide view of the of the Empress Marie Tapestry Room, the Hall Cuirassiers’ Room Louise, it was deci- of Mirrors, and the ded to refashion Banquet Hall. the long gallery of While some parts Alexander VII look- of the palace kept ing onto the squa- their original seven- re, which had been teenth-century decora- decorated from 1656 on tions intact - for instance by a group of painters, the cycle of frescoes painted among them Carlo Maratta and by the young in the Pier Francesco Mola, under the di- Chapel of the Annunciation - by far rection of Pietro da Cortona. In 1812 the greater part of the original pain- the space was divided into three tings were placed hanging among reception rooms corresponding to nineteenth-century pieces. In the the present-day Yellow Room, Cuirassiers Hall, for example, a Augustus Room and Savoy frieze with the coats of arms Ambassadors’ Room. of the cities of the newly-establis- Napoleon’s stay in hed unified , was placed Rome, planned for beneath a splendid seventeenth- spring 1812, never century frieze by Agostino Tassi happened. and depicting Further work was people in oriental dress on an open carried out under gallery. Pius VII Chia- The Pauline Chapel, similar in size ramonti and Pius IX to the in the Vatican, Mastai Ferretti, and in is covered by a beautiful ceiling in 1871 a large part of gilt stucco, completed by the the building under- Lombard artist Martino Ferabosco went further modifi- in 1616, while the figures of the cations when it beca- apostles on the walls were painted me the residence of in 1818. the King of Italy. The changes were The Savoys decorated the palace intended to hide the rather severe with expensive tapestries, antique 6 and gloomy tone of the papal resi- paintings, lamps and other furnis- hings from a variety of royal resi- during government crises the dences, creating the collection Gallery of Honour in the Gregorian which today still accounts for most Villa is transformed into a press of the palace’s furniture. Of particu- room. lar note are the six paintings by Left: Corrado Giaquinto of scenes from the banquet hall the Life of Aeneas, which came from the Castello di Moncalieri, the series of ten sixteenth-century tape- stries with scenes from the Life of Joseph, from , and the col- lection of clocks, all in perfect work- ing order, made in Paris in the middle of the eighteenth century. OTHER SEATS THE PALACE TODAY OF THE PRESIDENT Since 1948, with the election of OF THE REPUBLIC Luigi Einaudi, the Quirinale Palace has housed the offices and residen- Castelporziano ce of the President of the Italian Presidential Estate Republic. The architectural structu- This enormous estate, covering an re and internal decoration of the area of some 5,892 hectares, is cha- building have therefore remained racterised by an abundance of typi- substantially unaltered and the cally Mediterranean vegetation and General Secretariat of the President animal life. The original core of the manages the building according to castle was built using pre-existing principles of conservation and ancient Roman structures between respect for artistic and cultural heri- the tenth and eleventh centuries, tage. around which there developed a The rooms of the palace house village closed in by fortified walls. important institutional monuments, Due to its particular environmental connected to the constitutional role value, the estate was given special of the President, and to the internal protection by Presidential Decree and external politics of the State. n.136/N of the 5th May 1999, and The Cuirassiers Hall, for example, designated a State Nature Reserve. is the room where the investiture of the President takes place; official Villa Rosebery dinners for state visits and the Positioned on Capo Posillippo, swearing-in of the government take Villa Rosebery was built at the place in the Banquet Hall. The beginning of the nineteenth cen- Studio alla Vetrata or Glass Office tury by the Austrian official hosts meetings with foreign digni- Giuseppe De Thurn. Acquired in ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC taries and heads of state, and 1897 by Lord Rosebery, an eminent 7 R THE QUIRINALE PALACE Presidency of the Republic

English politician, the villa was INFORMATION later donated to the British govern- Segretariato Generale della Pre- ment. In 1932 it was given to the sidenza della Repubblica Italian state and became a summer Palazzo del Quirinale, Piazza del residence of the royal family. After Quirinale - 00187 Rome a period of disuse, the villa became tel. 06.46991; fax 06.46993125 the property of the Italian presi- e-mail: dency in 1957. [email protected] http://www.quirinale.it ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY F. BORSI – C. BRIGANTI – M. DEL

Top: PIAZZO – V. GORRESIO, Il Palazzo the coat of arms del Quirinale, Rome 1974 of the Cuirassiers A. NEGRO, Guide rionali di Roma. Right: Rione II, , Rome 1993 Mounted cuirassiers in full uniform F. COLALUCCI, Palazzo del Quirinale. Guida alle sale aperte al pubblico, Rome 1995 (with previous biblio- graphy) PRESIDENZA DELLA REPUBBLICA, Il Quirinale, Depliant illustrato, Rome 2001

PUBLIC ACCESS AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES The reception rooms of the Quirinale Palace are open to the public every Sunday from 8.30am to 12.30pm, with the exception of some special holidays. Usually the Palace is closed to the public during the month of August. Tickets are € 5,00, free for under 18s, over 65s and for school groups accompanied by their teachers. Every Sunday at 4pm in winter and at 6pm in summer, concerts are held (in Piazza del Quirinale) for the changing of the . Every Sunday morning at 11 classi- cal music concerts in the Pauline Chapel accompany the opening of 8 the Palace to the public. Senate

THE SITE IN ANTIQUITY Giovanni Michele Silos in a poem Madama stands in the area the published in 1673: Romans called Campus Martius, in “Once huge baths adorned ancient times the location of the with Phydian marble imposing structure of Nero’s Baths. were heated for terrible Nero. Bottom, centre: The baths occupied the area bet- Here a lovely line of columns, particular of the ceiling ween , Via there a grand portico; of the Sala Maccari della Dogana Vecchia, Corso here some rooms, Bottom: Rinascimento and Via del Pozzo there atriums painted view of Palazzo Madama in an 18thC. print delle Cornacchie. The entrance by the hands of artists. would have been on this last, nor- Streams of water flow thern side. through pipes and channels: The baths were built by Nero in 62 the golden water A.D., close to the site of the first rumbles in a cool lake Roman baths built by Agrippa in and then in a tepid one. the first century B.C. Nero's sump- Rightly do we owe baths to Nero: tuously decorated baths were the no-one more fitting first with the axial and symmetrical to the use of water: layout which was to become the that he who was so inflexible standard format for Roman baths in might soften himself in the water: the Imperial Age. They were that the water with its streams destroyed by the Campus Martius might cleanse him fire in the year 80. They were who stained himself rebuilt and restored on a number of with so much blood” occasions in later years, first Little evidence of the splen- by Domitian and again in dour of Nero’s construc- 227 by Alexander Seve- tion survives today. rus, for whom they Some sections of were given the name wall remain beneath Thermae Alexan- Palazzo Madama, Pa- drinae. They were lazzo Patrizi, Palazzo supplied with water Giustiniani and in a from a new aqueduct built courtyard of Piazza by him. Severus’ reconstruction Rondanini. Two monolithic which enlarged the adjacent gar- granite columns with white marble dens probably followed closely the capitals were also discovered in layout of Nero’s structure which 1934 near Via Giovanna d'Arco, remained in place for some time. and were erected on Via di ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC Nero's baths were imagined thus by Sant'Eustachio along with a frag- 9 R PALAZZO MADAMA Senate

ment of an architrave. Another two designated thermis, and another, were inserted into the vestibule of San Benedetto in thermis Alexan- drinis, names which testify to the continued presence of the ruins of the baths. In the same period, the Crescenzi family, politically opposed to the monks, built defensive fortifica- tions in the area. A tower, built in the twelfth century, was later incor- porated into Palazzo Madama, and can still be seen in the courtyard known as the cortile del Cardinale Giovanni or cortile della Palma. The Farfa monks occupied the baths until 1480, when they gave up their property to the French, Above: the Pantheon in 1666, substituting who built the church of San Luigi the Library columns missing from the left-hand on the site in the sixteenth century. Bottom right: side; another column was found The Crescenzi continued to live in the Cortile d’Onore under the Salita dei Crescenzi in their houses in the area around 1875, and placed along the Sant'Eustachio and sold some of Aurelian wall near , in a their property to the Medicis as late monument commemorating the as the sixteenth century. breach of the wall in 1870. In 1938, with the opening of Corso A large basin of Egyptian granite del Rinascimento and the construc- uncovered in 1980 during excava- tion of surrounding new buildings, tions carried out in the area bet- the medieval layout of the district ween Palazzo Madama and Palazzo was completely destroyed, in parti- Carpegna is also likely to have come from the Neronian Baths. The basin was placed a few years ago in Largo della Costituente on the cor- ner of Via degli Staderari. Monks from the abbey of Farfa moved into the building in the tenth century, to halt the rise of the powerful Crescenzi family who lived in the area. The monks built a xenodochio, a place of welcome for strangers, and a number of churches. Two of these, San 10 Giacomo and San Salvatore were cular with the demolition of the gitimate daughter of Charles V, for two roads which enclosed on both use in her lifetime. She gave her sides the small Piazza Madama, name to the palazzo, which she known in the Middle Ages as lived in from 1538 to 1559 and from Piazza Lombarda because of the 1567 to 1580. Lungobard imperial privileges Later the property passed to enjoyed by the Farfa monks. Catherine de Medici, queen of France, and then to Leo XI, Pope HISTORY OF THE PALAZZO for a few days in 1605. In the 17th Architecture and decoration century Ferdinando II de Medici Sinulfo di Castell'Ottieri, bishop of gave the building its present form, Chiusi, built the original core of the having it renovated and expanded palazzo on land around Piazza by Paolo Marucelli, who was Lombarda which he acquired from responsible for the grand staircase the monks of Farfa, to whom it had as well as the façade and its ornate belonged for centuries. The buil- windows. Under the direction of Top: ding was then rented out to Cardinal Monanno Monanni, the interior the Meeting Hall

Giovanni de’ Medici, the future was decorated with gilt ceilings and Bottom: , who in 1505 decided to friezes. After 1737, when the the Pannini Room buy it. He paid for it in installments, Medicis were no involving his brother Giuliano and more, the pal- his nephew Lorenzo, Duke of ace passed to the Urbino, as buyers with him. Lorena family, Using a design by Giuliano da and then in Sangallo, the Cardinal transformed 1755 to Bene- the palazzo into a rich residence, dict XIV Lam- including an impressive library bertini. which was administered by Guer- He made the rino Favorino, editor of the most palace the seat important Greek dictionary of the of the Governor Renaissance. of Rome and The period of the Medicis is recal- opened the se- led by works of art and furniture cond courtyard, still kept in the building, such as in the space the tapestries in the Signature today occupied Room and the coffered ceilings in by the Senate the Mazzini Room and the staircase chamber. of San Luigi dei Francesi. During the pa- On the death of Pope Leo X, the pacy of Clement XIII Rezzonico, the building was given first to Giulio offices of the law court, the police and then to Alessandro de Medici, force and the revenue were all and finally to the latter’s widow, situated in Palazzo Madama, and in ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC "Madama" Margaret of Austria, ille- 1798 it became the seat of the cen- 11 R PALAZZO MADAMA Senate

tral offices of the Franco-Roman out between 1882 and 1888 by Republic; in the second half of the Cesare Maccari who painted the 19th century, Pius IX Mastai Ferretti allegories on the roof and the sce- had his Finance and Public Debt nes on the side walls, in tune with ministries in the building, and in the rhetorical tastes of the period. 1851 it became the headquarters of The extensive art collection of the the papal postal service. palazzo has grown with the addi- Since 1871, when the palace be- tion of works from other Roman came the seat of the Italian Senate, residences. Of particular note are much work has taken place on the the frescoes painted by Paolo building, including important alte- Pannini (1691-1765) and Ludovico rations connected with its new Gimignani (1643-1697), from Pa- functions. Among the most signifi- lazzo Bacchettoni on Via del cant was the construction of the Tritone and from Palazzo Carpegna, Senate chamber, designed by Luigi respectively. The paintings were Gabet, in the courtyard of the old taken down and saved shortly be-

Right: papal post office. The first meeting fore the demolition of the buildings the Maccari Room of the Senate was held here on the which housed them, and are today

Bottom: 28th of November 1871. The deco- on the ceilings of the Presidential vault of the Pannini Room ration of the chamber was carried Room and the Hero’s Gallery. with Apollo’s Chariot

12 Palazzo Madama has a valuable Palazzo Stati Cenci library, designed by Gaetano Koch, Piazza Sant’Eustachio, 83 in a new building to house its Palazzo Stati Cenci was built by Cristoforo Stati in 1520 with money Left: from the dowry of his wife, Palazzo Giustiniani, Faustina Cenci. In 1786 it passed Hall of Mirrors into the hands of the Maccarani family, and at the turn of the twen- tieth century to the Brazzàs of Udine. It was sold in 1972 to the Italian state, and was allocated for use by the Senate which opened offices in the building. In 1929 Palazzo Madama was connected by an numerous and important volumes. Ionic arcade to the adjacent The eight-storey high complex Palazzo Carpegna, at 44 Corso includes storage rooms, reading Rinascimento, which was entirely and catalogue rooms, offices and renovated to accommodate the rooms for special collections. senatorial offices.

OTHER SEATS ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE ITALIAN SENATE Various, Palazzo Cenci. Palazzo Giustiniani, Rome 1984 Palazzo Giustiniani Various, Palazzo Madama, Rome 1984 Via della Dogana Vecchia, 29 F. COARELLI, Guida archeologica This building was built in the 16th di Roma, Rome 2000 century for Monsignor Francesco Vento, and acquired by Giuseppe PUBLIC ACCESS Giustiniani at the end of the cen- AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES tury. It housed the Giustiniani Palazzo Madama is open to the family’s extensive and important art public on the first Saturday of every collection, which was assembled month for guided tours from 10am by Giuseppe’s sons Cardinal until 6pm. The entrance is at Piazza Benedetto Giustiniani and Mar- Madama, 11. quess Vincenzo Giustiniani. The visit covers the most significant In 1938 the building was linked to parts of the building: the Cortile Palazzo Madama by means of an d’Onore, the Maccari Room which underground passage. Today it takes its name from the artist who contains, among other things, the decorated it, the Garibaldi Room or offices of life senators and the offi- Hall of Kings, the Pannini Room in cial apartments of the President of which the Council of the President ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC the Senate. of the Senate and the Conference of 13 R PALAZZO MADAMA Senate

Parliamentary Parties meet. A cen- You must include a copy of an offi- tral point of the tour is the Chamber cial piece of identity for each per- designed by Luigi Gabet, which is son intending to attend, as well as a the hub of the Senate’s activity. contact phone-number. Senate sittings are public and can be watched from the public gallery. INFORMATION Requests must be sent by post to Senato della Repubblica the Ufficio di Questura del Senato Piazza Madama, 11 - 00186 Roma at the following address: Senato tel. 06/67061 della Repubblica - Via del Salvatore For parliamentary information, 12 - 00186 Roma, or by fax to 06 call 06/67063430 6706 3513. http://www.senato.it

Right: the Maccari Room

14 Chamber of Deputies

THE SITE IN ANTIQUITY today stands in the centre of the The Piazza di Montecitorio is on an square. artificial hill, known since the Made in Heliopolis, in Egypt, by the Middle Ages as “Monte Ac- Pharaoh Psammetic II at the begin- cettatorio”. The land ning of the 6th century was filled in ancient B.C., the times to lay founda- was brought to tions for monuments Rome in 10 B.C. on what was otherwise to function as marshy and low- the hand of a lying land. The name massive solar Centre: may derive from clock orde- reproduction of the “Monte Citatorio”, in red by Augu- Capitoline She-Wolf in the room memory of the column of the stus and made by Mecenates with bearing its name Emperor Antoninus Pius, at the the help of astronomers and mathe- Bottom: base of which, according to tradi- maticians from Alexandria. The the façade according to tion, judicial announcements and sundial had a rectangular shape an original design by Bernini summons (citationes) were hung. Fragments of the column, erected in honour of Antoninus Pius in the second century, were uncovered in 1703 near the centre of the Campus Martius, the modern-day block bet- ween Via Uffici del Vicario, Via di , Piazza del Par- lamento and Via della Missione. The column was almost fifteen metres high and had a smooth shaft of red granite and a capital of white marble on which stood a statue of the Emperor. Its square base was decorated with reliefs, and can be seen today in the courtyard of the Pinacoteca in the Vatican Museums. The column was badly damaged by with long concave sides, and cove- a fire in the 18th century. It was red the area between Piazza del used to restore other ancient con- Parlamento and Piazza San Lorenzo structions, including the obelisk, in Lucina. Part of the clock-face, ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC also made of red granite, which paved in travertine with bronze let- 15 R PALAZZO MONTECITORIO Chamber of Deputies

tering, is still preserved. It was who restored it. It was finally found eight metres below the demolished in 1695. ground during recent excavations During the Renaissance the popu- at number 48, Via di Campo lation of the city rose sharply, and Marzio, and is a restoration Right: the Assembly Chamber from the time of Domitian. with Sartorio’s frieze The obelisk of Psammetic II, found in 3, Piazza del Parlamento in 1748, was restored by Giovanni Antinori and placed in Piazza di Montecitorio in 1792 in accordance with the wishes of Pope Pius VI Braschi. It was probably part of a single monumen- tal complex which also included the and the mausoleum of Au- gustus. It is around 22 metres in height and is topped with a bronze globe. In the eighteenth century a hole was made in the globe through which the Montecitorio was no exception to sun’s rays shone onto the ground. the flurry of construction activity, After the fall of the Roman Empire, seeing the building of prestigious the centre of the Campus Martius buildings and houses, with façades was gradually abandoned, and in painted by Raffaellino da Reggio the Middle Ages the only building and Polidoro di . recorded on the Montecitorio hill was the church San Biagio de Hortis HISTORY OF THE PALAZZO (also given the appellations de Architecture and Decoration Monte Acceptoro or Acceptabili). The early palazzo Montecitorio, The name de Hortis allows us to built in the sixteenth century by infer that the church was mostly Cardinal Niccolò Gaddi, was acqui- surrounded by fields, with no more red in 1571 by Cardinal Pierdonato than the occasional cottage. The Cesi who had it rebuilt by Martino church was abandoned in the fif- Longhi the Elder. After a few years, teenth century and in 1573 was however, the building was given given to clerics of the Somascan first to Cardinal Giulio Antonio order, members of the company of Santorio, then to the Somascan 16 Saint Ambrose and Saint Charles, fathers of San Biagio and finally to Cardinal Luigi Capponi who gran- rical figures of Charity and Justice, ted it in 1653 to Prince Nicolò in reference to the building’s func- . On the occasion of this tions. A balcony was built in the latter’s marriage to Costanza centre of the façade, lightly convex Pamphilj, niece of Pope Innocent X, and divided into five sections. In other buildings adjacent to the pala- 1743, winning lottery numbers ce were purchased, and Gian were announced from it. Lorenzo Bernini was charged with Following the unification of Italy in designing a new, grander structure 1870, Palazzo Montecitorio was cho- worthy of the papal family. sen over the Campidoglio and Bernini’s project was extremely Palazzo Venezia to be the seat of the ambitious, involving the laying-out Chamber of Deputies. The courtyard of two distinct bodies of buildings was turned into the assembly room, and the construction of a tripartite built by the engineer Paolo Comotto: façade decorated with rustic ashlar a gradated semicircle resting on a and foliage, and wings on either zinc-covered iron and wooden side following the gentle slope of frame. Comotto’s changes proved

Montecitorio. insufficient, however, and at the Bottom left: The building work was carried out beginning of the twentieth century it the Yellow Room slowly, and then interrupted in 1655 was decided to enlarge the building. Right: due to lack of funds, by which time The project was entrusted to Sicilian the corridor to the Chamber, only the right-hand wing of the architect . In tune with known as the palazzo and a part of the façade had the “liberty” style popular at the “Transatlantic” been completed. Around forty years later, Pope Innocent XII Pignatelli bought the building for the headquarters of the pontifical courts and police force. Construction was recontinued under the direction of the architect , who followed, if academically, the plans of his tea- cher and predecessor Bernini. Fontana added the triple entrance, the gabled bell-tower and the semi- circular arcades in the courtyard (which would be demolished to make room for the assembly cham- time, Basile built a new section at the ber when the building became the back of the seventeenth-century seat of the Chamber of Deputies of palazzo, with an entrance on Piazza the Kingdom of Italy). Two bas- del Parlamento. This structure was relief medallions were affixed to the able to accommodate the new ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC smaller doors, depicting the allego- assembly hall and a large number of 17 R PALAZZO MONTECITORIO Chamber of Deputies

ornate offices. The decoration of the Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. Other assembly hall, with an amphitheatre official buildings in the centre of of benches and a glass and iron Rome belonging to the Chamber of covering was completed with a frie- Deputies were acquired in recent ze painted by Giulio Aristide decades, most of them already state Sartorio, figuring Civilisation, Virtue property. These buildings house and a History of the Italian People, the offices of parliamentary parties, and a bronze bas-relief by Davide individual deputies, and the Calandra depicting the Glorification Chamber’s administration. Some of of the Savoy dynasty. these latter offices provide services In the palazzo’s interior, features directly to the public, e.g. the worthy of note are the famous Library, Bookshop, Information “transatlantic” corridor next to the and Publications centre, and the assembly hall, 56 metres long and Archive. 11.7 metres wide; the corridor of In this “parliamentary city”, the busts, with busts of illustrious par- most important buildings, in archi- liamentarians; the She-Wolf Room tectural and artistic terms are, after which contains a reproduction of Palazzo Montecitorio, the Palazzo the Capitoline She-Wolf; and the del Seminario and the complex on Yellow Room, decorated with roco- Vicolo Valdina. co furniture from the Caserta Palace. There are also several Palazzo del Seminario works of antique and contempo- Via del Seminario, 76 rary art in various rooms of the The palazzo, which houses the palazzo, most of which can be vie- Library and Archives of the wed by the public on the first Chamber of Deputies, is situated Sunday of every month when the within the Minerva complex, origi- Chamber of Deputies is open to nally the site of a sixteenth-century visitors for the "Montecitorio a Dominican convent attached to the porte aperte" (“Montecitorio with church of Santa Maria sopra Open Doors”) exhibition. Minerva.

THE PALAZZO TODAY Vicolo Valdina Complex Palazzo Montecitorio has been the Piazza in Campo Marzio, 42 seat of the Chamber of Deputies The Vicolo Valdina monumental since 1870, the year in which the complex is in the former monastery capital of the newly unified Italy of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, was moved from Florence to Rome. founded in the mid-eighteenth cen- tury by Basilian nuns from OTHER SEATS OF THE Constantinople fleeing iconoclasm. CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES It became the property of the The Chamber had previously met Italian State Archives in 1870, and 18 in ’s Palazzo Carignano and underwent massive renovation in the 1970s, when much of it was transformed into offices for the Chamber of Deputies. The parts of the building of greatest artistic and historical interest (the cloister, the refectory and the sacristy) were converted into spaces for conferen- ces, exhibitions and concerts. A number of other buildings com- plete the “parliamentary city”, hou- sing administrative offices or those of individual members of parlia- ment: the former Banco di Napoli building on Via del Parlamento; the Marini complex, composed of a number of buildings situated between Via del Tritone, Piazza San Claudio and Via del Pozzetto; the Theodoli-Bian- chelli complex between and Via dell’Impresa. A new Basile, Rome - , 2000 Top: the Vicolo Valdina complex Parliamentary Information Centre Camera dei Deputati, for the public, with a multi-media Le sedi della Camera, Rome, 2001 (in service centre, will soon be opened press). on the ground floor of Palazzo Thedoli. A few months ago during PUBLIC ACCESS building work on this centre, a fre- AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES sco by the painter Gino Severini, The “Montecitorio a porte aperte”, dating from around 1945, was dis- exhibition, usually on the first covered, and is now in the process Sunday of every month from 10am of being restored. to 6pm, gives a guided tour through the Assembly hall, the Transatlantic ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY corridor and the reception rooms of F. Borsi, G. Briganti, M. Venturosi, the Chamber of Deputies. Il palazzo di Montecitorio, Rome 1985 Admission is free. Use the entrance F. Borsi, A.M. Damigella, L. Scardino, on Piazza Montecitorio. L’aula di Montecitorio, 1986 For schools, non-profit organisa- V. Rivosecchi, G. Selvaggi, A. Trom- tions and groups organised by the badori, public, tours of Palazzo Mon- Catalogo delle opere d’arte, Rome 1993 tecitorio may be arranged on week- Camera dei Deputati, days except Saturday. A request Ernesto Basile a Montecitorio must be sent on headed paper by ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC e i disegni restaurati della dotazione those responsible for the group to: 19 R PALAZZO MONTECITORIO Chamber of Deputies

Il Consigliere Capo Servizio per la ties and officials, and observing a Sicurezza della Camera dei De- sitting of the Chamber from the public gallery. It is organised by the Ufficio Pubblicazioni e Relazioni con il pubblico (tel. 06-67604150, 06- 67603097). Art exhibitions, conferences, con- certs and other public events are held in the Vicolo Valdina com- plex, and occasionally in Palazzo Montecitorio. These are advertised on the Chamber website and else-

Top: putati, Via della Missione, n. 10 - where. G. A. Sartorio, 00186 ROMA, fax no. 06-67609950. particular of painted frieze figuring “Civilisation, Visits for groups of 50 people leave INFORMATION Virtue and History from the gateway located in 24 Camera dei Deputati of the Italian People” Piazza del Parlamento. Tours last Piazza Montecitorio - 00186 Roma approximately one hour and inclu- Chamber of Deputies information de the most important historic and office 06/67601 artistic rooms. Possibility of atten- Publications and Public Relations ding a sitting of the house. Office An “information day” is organised Tel. 0667604150, 0667603097 Fax every week for two senior middle 0667602449 school classes in Montecitorio. The e-mail: [email protected] day involves meetings with depu- http://www.camera.it

20 Constitutional Court

THE SITE IN ANTIQUITY torio in Campidoglio, the statue of The area on the southern slopes of Constantine in the atrium of the the Quirinal, now partially occu- Basilica of Saint John Lateran, a sta- pied by Palazzo della Consulta, tue of Constantine and one of was in ancient times the site of his son, the emperor Constans the baths of the Emperor under the balustrade of the Constantine. Building on cordonata on the Capitol, the baths began in the and two bronze sculptures early fourth century, and figuring a Hellenistic they covered an area prince and a boxer, corresponding to to- today kept in the day’s Via della Consulta, Octagonal Hall of the Centre: Via Nazionale, Via XXIV Diocletian Baths. French porcelain clock Maggio and Piazza Although nothing re- Bottom: del Quirinale. the façade on mains of the baths’ Piazza del Quirinale Because of the structure itself, sharp slope of thanks to some the hill, massive renaissance dra- levelling of the wings it has been terrain was necessary in order to possible to recreate a plan of the build the baths, leading to the building with some accuracy. It destruction of pre-existing public matches the canonical layout of the and private buildings. spaces in bath-houses, standard Constantine’s baths, the last to be since the building of Nero’s baths built in Rome, were smaller than those constructed by Cara- calla and Diocletian. This is probably due to the fact that they were designed for use by a more select clientele, as eviden- ced by the refined nature of the surviving decorations. in the first century A.D. In fact, a number of notable sculp- From the fifth century on, barbarian tures originated in the area of the invasions - whose destructive ef- baths: two statues of river deities fects were particularly felt in this ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC now at the base of Palazzo Sena- part of the city - caused the gradual 21 R PALAZZO DELLA CONSULTA Constitutional Court

depopulation of the hill. of the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, The Quirinal’s great past was even- shown in the act of taming horses. tually testified to only by the ruins Made in the third century to deco- of the impressive buildings which rate the Temple of Serapis, the had once characterised it. Some of statues were probably placed in the old major routes were still in Constantine’s Baths after 443. use, however, among them the Alta Because of its pleasant climate and Semita, a road which followed the the antique ruins which were still high ridge of the hill, correspon- visible on its slopes, from the fif- ding to the modern-day Via XX teenth century the Quirinal became Settembre and Via del Quirinale. a preferred location for cultured During the Middle Ages, rubble people connected to the pontifical from the antique ruins was used to curia to build their suburban resi- build fortifications and churches dences. Residents included Pom- along this road and on the site of ponio Leto, founder of the first the present square. The churches - Roman Archeological Academy, Sant’Agata, San Saturnino and San Bartolomeo Sacchi, called il Platina, Bottom: the courtyard with Salvatore - were remembered with librarian for Pope Sixtus IV della the Staircase of Honour the appellation “caballo”. In fact, Rovere, and Fabio Biondo, Patriarch of Constantinople. Biondo’s house, located near the middle of Constantine’s Baths, was given to Cardinal Scipione Bor- ghese at the beginning of the seventeenth century. In order to build a new residence for himself on the hill (now the Palazzo Rospigliosi Pallavicini), the Cardi- nal demolished the remains of the baths.

HISTORY OF THE PALAZZO Architecture and Decoration In the sixteenth century, a palazzo was built for Cardinal Ferrero di Vercelli in the area corresponding to the northern section of Constantine’s Baths. During the papacy of Sixtus V Peretti, it housed the Ecclesiastical the whole hill was known as Court of the Consulta. The Sacra “Montecavallo” at the time, because Consulta (Sacra Congregatio pro 22 of the presence on it of the statues consultationibus negotiorum status ecclesiastici) was a congregation of dal shape of the cardinals, instituted by Pope Paul plot on which he IV in the middle of the sixteenth would have to century, to settle the more delicate build a structure questions of the “temporal” capable of ac- government of the ecclesiastic commodating state, with particular attention to not only the political crimes. At the beginning Sacra Consulta of the seventeenth century, Pope but also the Se- Paul V Borghese enlarged the gnatura dei Bre- palazzo with the acquisition of vi (the office in some properties facing the mo- charge of draf- dern-day Vicolo del Mazzarino, ting papal letters providing the complex with stables of indulgence and service areas on the ground and dispensa- floor. A century later, however, in tions), and two military corps: the Top: 1732, Pope Clement XII Corsini light cavalry and the cuirassiers. the Pompeian Room decided to demolish the old buil- The light cavalry were the pope’s ding in order to build a new, more mounted guard, while the latter functional one in its place, more in escorted his carriage on foot. Fuga keeping with the lively urban archi- designed a trapezoidal building tecture of the square. The new which stood solidly and had seven palazzo was built to a design by separate floors to house the diffe- Ferdinando Fuga who also comple- rent institutions. In the basement ted the so-called “manica lunga” were cellars and stables, on the and the Palazzina del Segretario ground floor were the guards’ quar- della Cifra in the Quirinale, as well ters and the kitchens, on the first as the papal stables, designed by mezzanine the military quarters, Alessandro Specchi and begun in and in the loft the officers’ rooms. 1720. Financed by lottery money, The main floor was occupied by the building of Palazzo della the apartments of the cardinals in Consulta proceeded quickly, despi- charge of papal briefs and of the te the difficulties encountered in Sacra Consulta: their apartments laying foundations, and work was were completely identical and completed by 1737. symmetrical, and were composed Numerous floods and landslides of reception rooms looking onto made it necessary to build large fen- the Piazza del Quirinale and their ces and strong supporting walls, own living accommodation. The some of which were built on top of other two mezzanine floors housed the site of the baths. In planning the the offices of the Secretariat as well construction, Fuga also had to take as the cardinals’ officials and ser- account of the narrowness of the vants. The various floors were con- ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC available land, and of the trapezoi- nected by an ingenious series of 23 R PALAZZO DELLA CONSULTA Constitutional Court

internal staircases, while the main ter from Lucca, who completed it in floor and second mezzanine were 1790. The decoration, partially lost, reached by a splendid “scissors- is the best-conserved and most pre- stairs, marvellously built within the cious painted series in the building. narrow space of the courtyard” In some rooms, Nocchi restored (Portoghesi), undoubtedly one of existing paintings and framed them the architect’s most successful crea- with ornamental friezes containing tions. For the main façade giving allegorical figures in geometric cor- onto Piazza Fuga, he designed a nices. However the most deman- classically-inspired structure on ding project was without a doubt two levels with a mezzanine, to the so-called “Pompeian Room”, which he added, in keeping with the decoration of which was based the building’s important functions, on the myth of Proserpine. an ornate sculpted decoration. On During the Napoleonic era, from

Centre page: the upper balustrade he placed two 1798-1814, the building was used one of the Murano statues of winged Fame with the as the seat of the Prefecture of chandeliers coat of arms of Pope Clement XII Rome, headed by the Baron of Corsini, made by Tournon. In 1849, the Neapolitan during the brief Paolo Benaglia; al- interval of the legorical figures of , it Justice and Religion was the seat of the by Francesco Maini triumvirate govern- were placed above ment of Mazzini, the main entrance, Armellini and Saffi. while on the two After the incorpora- side doors Filippo tion of Rome into Valle sculpted the the new Kingdom military trophies of the regiments of Italy, the Quirinale Palace was housed in the building. chosen as the royal residence and The first decoration of the interior Palazzo della Consulta was from was entrusted to the painters 1871 to 1874 the residence of Antonio Bicchierai and Domenico Umberto and Margherita of Savoy, Piastrini, of whose work only some the heirs to the throne. This role allegorical figures in the centre of gave rise to a new decoration of the ceilings in the cardinals’ apartments building, carried out by the pain- remain. ters Domenico Bruschi, Cecrope In 1787 Romualdo Onesti Braschi, Barilli e Annibale Brugnoli, who at nephew of Pope Pius VI Braschi, the time were also working on the was appointed Cardinal of the Quirinale. Many rooms, including Briefs, heralding a new decorative the modern-day President’s Office phase. It was planned and carried and Audience Room, were painted 24 out by Bernardino Nocchi, a pain- in typical late-eighteenth century style, with allegorical figures and new functions, while respecting the the Savoy coat of arms. existing structures. In 1874 it was decided to make the In co-operation with the So- palazzo the site of the Ministry for printendenza per i Beni Archi- Foreign Affairs, then in 1924 that of tettonici di Roma e del Lazio, and the Ministry for Colonies, which the Genio Civile, restoration is still became the Ministry of Italian being carried out on the outer faça- Africa in 1937. This department des as well as on rooms in the inte- was eventually closed and since rior. The restoration has also inclu- 1955 Palazzo della Consulta has ded furnishings and paintings, such been the seat of the Constitutional as the large portraits of the Savoy Court. sovereigns, which, after lying for- Its rooms are decorated with extre- gotten in storage for some time, mely valuable furniture and furnis- were placed on the walls of the hings, including a precious clock in Staircase of Honour in 1994 having Bottom: French porcelain, an eighteenth- undergone careful cleaning. the “May” triptych by Giacomo Balla century sedan chair, a table with marble inlays with the Medici coat of arms on the corners, and nume- rous consolles and Murano chandeliers. It also boasts a rich col- lection of paintings which numbers among its masterpieces the May Triptych, from the ‘divisionist’ period of Giacomo Balla, a large canvas by OTHER SEATS OF Giovanni Fattori figuring light THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT cavalry in the field, and two seven- teenth-century landscapes by San Silvestro al Pieter Mulier, known as “Il Quirinale Complex Tempesta”. Via XXIV Maggio, 10 To allow for the carrying out of pressing works of conservation and THE PALAZZO TODAY restoration, as well as for other Since 1955, when Palazzo della functional reasons, the Court was Consulta was chosen as the perma- obliged to seek out new admini- nent seat of the Constitutional strative office space in the imme- Court, a series of renovations has diate vicinity of Palazzo della been carried out with the aim of Consulta. The choice fell on the ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC adapting the historic building to its sixteenth-century convent of San 25 R PALAZZO DELLA CONSULTA Constitutional Court

Silvestro al Quirinale, used by Bari 1973, fifth ed. 1992 Teatine clerics since the middle of Various, Il Palazzo della Consulta, the sixteenth century. Rome 1974 During the Napoleonic occupation, M. NEVOLA, Il Palazzo della Consulta the convent was requisitioned by sede della Corte costituzionale, the French army which installed a Rome 1997 military headquarters in it, in the L. BARROERO, Guide rionali di Roma. service of the prefecture, which Rione I , Rome 1998 was located nearby. In 1801, the A. D’ORO, Il complesso Teatines were forced to find a new di San Silvestro al Quirinale, home and San Silvestro al Quirinale nuovo insediamento della Corte was given to Marianne of Austria costituzionale, Rome 2001. who oversaw the restorations made necessary by the damage caused by PUBLIC ACCESS French troops. When Rome beca- AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES me part of the Kingdom of Italy, the The palazzo is opened to the public convent was taken over by the on special occasions, and with the State for public use and was made Soprintendenza, the Court has the head office of the Military begun the renovations necessary to Engineers, who were responsible allow for it to be opened at regular for the building of the villa in the intervals. Via della Cordonata garden, now Court hearings are public; students also used by the Constitutional and individuals interested in atten- Court. The installation of the Court ding should send a request to the was the occasion for important art- Cerimoniale. istic restoration, including the clea- ning of travertine surfaces and the INFORMATION renovation of halls, internal façades Corte Costituzionale and of the antique corridors. Piazza del Quirinale, 41 00187 Roma ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY tel. 06/46981 P. PORTOGHESI, Roma barocca, http://www.cortecostituzionale.it

26 PALAZZO CHIGI Presidency of the Council of Ministers

THE SITE IN ANTIQUITY high, and altogether measured over Palazzo Chigi is on the corner bet- 51 metres in height. The frieze ween the present-day Piazza which spirals around the length of Colonna and Via del Corso. In the column represents the principal ancient times the site was characte- episodes in the military campaigns rised by important monuments waged by Marcus against the bar- which were the defining featu- barian tribes the Germani and re of this end of the Campus the Sarmati. The unknown Martius. The Campus artist was clearly inspired Martius originally in- by the more famous cluded the whole Trajan’s column, built of the large at the beginning of plain between the second cen- the Tiber and tury to celebrate Centre: lunette of the ceiling the Capitol, Quirinal and Pincio. victories against the Dacians. Inside of the Maps Room The area was transversed north- the shaft is a spiral staircase which Bottom: south by an important thoroughfare, goes all the way to the top of the the façade on Piazza the beginning of the ancient Via column, where originally there Colonna Flaminia, the route covered today stood a bronze statue by Via del Corso. From the age of of , lost Augustus, the street was known as in the Middle Ages and Via Lata, “wide road”, probably substituted with a sta- because of the widening under- tue of Saint Paul by taken by Augustus and Agrippa in in 1589. their restructuring of the entire The column probably quarter. In particular, a number of stood in the middle of public buildings and monuments an arcade and was clo- were erected in the centre: temples, sely connected to the baths, porticoes and theatres. This temple, situated immediately to the type of construction was continued west, which was erected by the in subsequent years as other empe- senate in honour of the deified rors went on beautifying the area Marcus Aurelius. Two ustrina, with impressive buildings. enclosures which marked the site A column erected between 180 and of the cremation ceremonies of 192 in memory of the emperor emperors, presumably Antoninus Marcus Aurelius still stands in Pius and Marcus Aurelius, were . The column, made found nearby. of Carrara marble, was originally During the medieval period, ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC supported by a base 11 metres modest dwellings were built in the 27 R PALAZZO CHIGI Presidency of the Council of Ministers

area, belonging to artisans engaged added to this nucleus - though they in the re-use of the abundant mate- were situated towards the modern- rial provided by ruined monu- day Piazza Colonna and not adja- ments. Fortunately, the column sur- cent to the building. In 1584 the vived almost completely intact architect Matteo da Castello was because in the tenth century it was given the job of building a new came into the care of the palazzo, and he was responsible Benedictine monks of the church for the section around Via del of . A small Corso. Four years later, after the oratory was built at its base, known death of Pietro, the property was as Sant’Andrea de Columna, sold to Fabrizio Fossano who con- through which pilgrims, on pay- tinued the construction work. The ment of a small offering, could Aldobrandinis took possession of climb the spiral staircase and reach the building again in 1616 when Top: the column’s summit to enjoy a Cardinal Pietro bought it along with the Golden Room with the oval figuring view of the city. other neighbouring properties. In Diana and Endymion In the sixteenth century the area 1623 financial problems prevented was of only peripheral importance, the family from continuing work on until Pope Gregory XII Boncom- it, and the building came into the pagni took on the task of restoring hands of a distant cousin, Cardinal the Acqua Vergine aqueduct, and Giovan Battista Deti, who was ordered the building, by Giacomo granted the use of the property for Della Porta, of the splendid foun- his lifetime. Cardinal Deti died in tain, still playing today between the 1630, having made important column and Via del Corso. The improvements to the structure, faci- solution thus offered to the age-old litating the connection of the origi- problem of water sources increased nal body of the building with the the area’s value, and was responsi- houses on the corner of the square. ble for the heightened building The architect responsible for the activity. new project of enlargement was probably Carlo Madeno, who made HISTORY OF THE PALAZZO the Aldobrandinis’ house architect, Architecture and Decoration Alessandro De Pomis, responsible In 1578 the small house of the for the execution and direction of Tedallini was acquired by the the work. Deti also commissioned Consistorial lawyer Pietro Aldo- the decoration of some of the brandini, member of a Florentine rooms on the main floor, including noble family destined for meteoric those used today for the offices and rise in 1592 when Pietro’s brother, antechamber of the Prime Minister, Ippolito, became Pope Clement which contain a frieze figuring epi- VIII. The original core of the buil- sodes from the lives of Pope ding faced Via del Corso. Other Clement VIII and Gian Francesco 28 neighbouring properties were soon Aldobrandini. The pictures are attributed to an artist from Gubbio, residence and make it fit for one of Flaminio Allegrini, who was most the most luxurious noble houses in likely introduced to the family by Rome. The project was given to a the renowned Cavalier d’Arpino, in Sicilian architect, Felice della Greca, whose studio the young painter who designed the arcades in the had trained. Cavalier d’Arpino was courtyard and the imposing entran- one of the most highly-regarded ce on Via del Corso which leads to artists of his time, and had often a monumental staircase. The ambi- worked for the Aldobrandinis. His tious project included an open ter- hand can be detected in some of race instead of the old sloping roof, the scenes on the vault of the so- and a new roof-garden, which was called Galleriola Deti. The pain- to be higher than that of the nearby tings in this gallery, situated on the Palazzo Ludovisi. It was decided corner of the outer gallery, are the during the execution of this project most important part of this first not to alter the corner of the court- phase in the decoration of the yard built by Cardinal Deti, since palazzo. including it in the renovations In 1659 the building was bought by would have occasioned huge Mario Chigi, brother of Pope demolition costs. The result is that Alexander VII. Wishing for a resi- the large alternating windows with dence worthy of their rank, and stucco decorations which characte- considering the Palazzo Aldo- rise the courtyard, are interrupted brandini insufficient for their by this corner, whose unadorned needs, the Chigis bought out all the window-openings stand out as dis- other buildings in the block, orderly and confused. Felice Della towards the modern-day Via Greca was also responsible for the dell'Impresa and Vicolo dello Salone del Consiglio, an amalgama- Sdrucciolo, in order to enlarge the tion of what had been several sepa-

Bottom: the Council Room

ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC 29 R PALAZZO CHIGI Presidency of the Council of Ministers

rate rooms in the Palazzo Aldo- Marine Room and the adjacent brandini. In 1665, the Austrian Woodlands Room, both the work of painter Paolo Schor painted a frieze the French artist Adrien Manglard, depicting mythological figures were built on the second floor of against a trompe-l’oeil architecture, the palazzo. But without a doubt decorated with the stars and oak- the most extensive undertaking tree of the Chigi family crest. At the was that connected with another end of the seventeenth century the marriage, celebrated in 1763 bet- open terrace was removed to make ween Sigismondo Chigi and Maria way for an upper storey to house Flaminia Odescalchi. This saw the the valuable art collections from decoration of the so-called Golden the Chigi house in Piazza Santi Hall on the third floor, a masterpie- Apostoli, now Palazzo Odescalchi. ce of ornamental art carried out by The extensive library of Cardinal a team of painters, sculptors, deco- Flavio Chigi, containing 8600 prin- rators and stucco-workers coordi- ted works and over 2000 manu- nated by the architect Giovanni scripts, was also located in this Stern. In the centre of the ceiling addition. These were donated to was placed an oval depicting the Vatican by Mussolini in 1922, Diana and Endymion, painted by although the precious wooden Giovan Battista Gaulli, known as il

Bottom: shelving, a fine example of seven- baciccio, for another palazzo on particular of a tapestry teenth-century cabinet-making, Piazza Santi Apostoli. Two ovals depicting landscapes, painted by the Flemish painter Jan de Momper, were adapted and placed in bronze cornices above the doors by Luigi Valadier. In the same period the so- called “neo-classical apartment” was also laid out, decorated by Felice Giani and Liborio Coccetti. The final renovation sponsored by the Chigis was the decoration of the Four Seasons Room, also known as the Vestibolo dei Sayn due to the coats of arms of the Rhineland noble families, the Sayns and the Wittgensteins, connected by marria- remained in the palazzo. ge to the Chigis in 1857. The palaz- Over the course of the eighteenth zo was rented out to the Austro- century, a major new decorative Hungarian embassy at the Quirinale phase was begun. In 1748, on the from 1878 on, and was the focus of occasion of the marriage of violent Irredentist demonstrations. 30 Agostino Chigi to Giulia Albani, the In 1917 Palazzo Chigi was sold to the Italian state. It was initially used OTHER as the seat of the Ministry for the SEATS OF THE Colonies, which function is recal- PRESIDENCY OF led by decorations in the Ante- THE COUNCIL chamber of the Galleys and the OF MINISTERS Hall of the Maritime Republics. In 1922 Mussolini transferred the buil- Casino ding to the Foreign Ministry. When dell’Algardi this ministry moved to Palazzo at the in 1961, Palazzo Chigi Doria became the seat of the Prime Pamphilj Minister. Some of the rooms in the Via Aurelia palazzo are still decorated with fur- Antica, 111. niture, mirrors and paintings from The house the Chigis’ collections - for exam- was built by Alessandro Algardi, Top: ple, the three round paintings with the ceiling commissioned by Cardinal Camillo of the Maps Room cherubs from the Carlo Maratta Pamphilj, starting in 1644. The buil- school, placed above the doors in ding, also known as the Casino del the Sciences Room, or the series of Belrespiro (“The Lodge of Fresh Flemish tapestries with Scenes from Air”) for its high location, or Casino the life of Alexander the Great, delle Statue (“Lodge of the Statues”) bought by Cardinal Flavio Chigi in for its rich collection of ancient mar- 1668. bles, was recently subjected to major restoration which uncovered THE PALAZZO TODAY the original delicate colours of the The choice of this historic building façade and the the stuccoes decora- as the seat of the Prime Minister’s ting the rooms inside. Today it hou- offices, until then part of the ses the reception rooms of the Internal Ministry, occasioned reno- Presidency of the Council. vations which did not always respect the old structures of the ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY building. It is currently undergoing R. LEFEVRE, Palazzo Chigi, another restoration, this time with Rome 1973, II ed.1987 great attention paid to historical C. PIETRANGELI, accuracy, using the results of care- Guide rionali di Roma. ful chemical and physical analyses. Rione III Colonna, Rome 1982 The façade of the building, pre- F. COARELLI, Guida archeologica viously a dark ochre, has been di Roma, Rome 2000 restored to its original travertine colour. Inside, in the Aldobrandini- PUBLIC ACCESS Deti apartments, original bright AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES blues, reds and golds have surpri- Regular public opening of the ALAZZI OF THE P EPUBLIC singly re-emerged. palazzo is not currently planned. It 31 R PALAZZO CHIGI Presidency of the Council of Ministers

is however possible for schools and INFORMATION organisations to visit the building Presidenza del along a set route. Consiglio dei Ministri Written requests should be sent to Piazza Colonna, 370 Il Consiglio dei Ministri, all’atten- 00186 Roma zione del Soprintendente, tel. tel. 06/67791 06/67793111 – fax 06/6789952. http://www.governo.it

32 Goffredo Mameli (Genoa, 1827 - Rome, 1849) Author of the lyrics of the National Anthem NOTES NOTES i INFORMATION POINTS

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