Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi

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The Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi is a palace in Rome. It was built by the Borghese family on the Quirinal Hill; its footprint occupies the site where the ruins of the baths of Constantine stood, whose remains still are part of the basement of the Casino. The famed art collector[1] Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V, who desired to be housed near the massive Papal Palazzo Quirinale. The palace and garden of the Pallavicini-Rospigliosi were the product of the accumulated sites and designed by G. Vasanzio and Carlo Maderno in 1611-1616. Scipione owned this site for less than a decade, 1610-1616, and commissioned the construction and decoration of the casino and pergolata, facing the garden of Montecavallo.

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[edit] Casino dell'Aurora

The palace's main attraction, beside the art gallery, is the Casino dell'Aurora. The casino overlooks the Piazza Quirinale and contains what is considered Guido Reni's fresco masterpiece (1624). It is framed in quadri riportati and depicts Apollo in his Chariot preceded by Dawn (Aurora) bringing light to the world. Heraldic symbols were meant to link Scipione with Apollo. The work is restrained in classicism, mimicking poses from Roman Sarcophagi, many of which are part of the museum's collection. The chariot procession recalls the Annibale Carracci masterpiece in the Farnese Palace, shows even more restraint. There is little concession to perspective, and if anything the vibrantly colored style is an affront to the tenebrism of Carravagio's followers, despite this being a pavilion commissioned by one of Caravaggio's early patrons, Scipione Borghese. The pergolata is decorated by Paul Bril.

Later the site was sold to Giovanni Angelo Altemps (for 115,000 scudi with the Reni fresco valued at 200 scudi), then to the Bentivoglio, then the Lante, and then to Cardinal G. Mazarini. It is under these individuals that the main block of the palace took final shape. During this time, it served as the French embassy prior to the embassy moving to the more spacious lodgings at the Palazzo Farnese. In 1704, the palace became a property of the Rospigliosi-Pallavicini family, who still own it and who enriched its decoration and completed it present art gallery. The Roman palazzo should not be mistaken for the panoramic Villa Pallavacini at the shores of Lake Como in Lombardy.

The Casino was designed by Vasanzio is located overlooking the piazza Quirinale. On the walls are four frescoes of the Seasons by Brill, and two Triumphs by Antonio Tempesta. The palace is still inhabited by the family, and the casino is rented out for meetings.

[edit] Art gallery

The art gallery, Galleria Pallavicini, was begun by Cardinal Lazzaro Pallavicini, and includes more than 540 paintings, designs and sculptures. Other than the collections of the Doria-Pamphilij and Colonna families, this is the largest such private collection in Rome. The halls are frescoed by Paul Brill, and a loggia in a garden is covered by frescoes by Orazio Gentileschi and Agostino Tassi. Among the paintings that remain of the collection after some sales and losses in previous centuries are works by such artists as:

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

  • Homepagefor the palace with photos, history, and contact numbers.
  • [1]
  • Satellite photo- The Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi, Casino dell'Aurora, and the gardens are located obliquely south of Piazza Quirinale and the massive Palazzo Quirinale. It is adjacent to a nearly triangular building. The casino overlooks the street.
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