Farnese Palace
| Farnese Palace | |
|---|---|
 Facade in Piazza Farnese |
|
| Data | |
| place | Rome |
| architect | Antonio da Sangallo d. J., Michelangelo, Vignola, Giacomo della Porta |
| Client | Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, later Pope Paul III. |
| Architectural style | Renaissance |
| Construction year | circa 1514 - 1589 |
| height | 29 m |
| particularities | |
| Seat of the French embassy and the École française de Rome | |
The Palazzo Farnese is located in the Regola district on Piazza Farnese in Rome . It is one of the most important buildings of the Italian Renaissance and is named after the noble Farnese family. The first owner, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III. , manifested his dynastic claims to power through one of the largest palaces in Rome. The most important architects of the time were involved in the design and execution, such as Antonio da Sangallo the Younger , Michelangelo , Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Giacomo della Porta . The construction time extended over approx. 75 years.
The artists Daniele da Volterra , Francesco Salviati , the brothers Taddeo and Federico Zuccari , Guglielmo della Porta and others created the valuable interior. The Galleria Farnese , a cycle of frescoes by the two artists Agostino and Annibale Carracci from Bologna, marked the transition into a new art-historical phase, the Italian early baroque, at the end of the 16th century. The once extraordinary and rich Farnese art collections that several generations of the family had brought together became famous . Parts of it are now in the sculpture collection in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples and the painting collection in the Museo di Capodimonte , also in Naples.
The palace has been the seat of the French embassy in Rome and the École française de Rome since 1936 .
Location and location
The Palazzo Farnese is located in the historic old town in the VII. Rione, the Regola district in Rome, near the Campo de 'Fiori . It stretches over a whole square of streets and borders with its northwest side on Via dei Farnesi and southeast on Via del Mascherone, which were regulated or expanded in the course of construction. The main facade is oriented towards the Piazza Farnese , which is part of the overall conception of the palace and underlines its monumental and representative effect. The palace extends in a south-westerly direction to Via Giulia , the connecting road drawn in under Pope Julius II around 1508 between the never completed Palazzo dei Tribunali and the Vatican.
Building history
Alessandro Farnese, from lower feudal nobility and due to the close relationship of his sister Giulia to Pope Alexander VI. , was appointed cardinal deacon in 1493 at the age of 25. He did not have his own residence in Rome. That is why he rented a room in the former residence of the Catalan Cardinal Pedro Ferriz. In 1495 he acquired the Palazzo Ferriz for 5,500 ducats from the Augustinians of the Santa Maria del Popolo monastery , who had inherited the palace in 1478. Alessandro lived in the Palazzo Ferriz, already referred to by contemporaries as the Palazzo dei Farnesi , until the construction of the new palace began (1517). The Palazzo Ferriz, with the facade facing Via della Regola and a large garden on the Tiber side, was located on one of the two main traffic arteries in the western part of Campo Marzio, a strategically important passage area for pilgrims and processions in the Renaissance period and also the center of urban life. As a powerful cardinal to the Curia, he maintained excellent relationships with the subsequent Popes Julius II and his college friend Leo X, which earned him a number of other profitable dioceses and ecclesiastical benefices. This enabled him to purchase surrounding buildings and land in order to have a representative palace built for himself and his family, especially for his two sons Pier Luigi and Ranuccio. Originally a rectangular residence in the Florentine style was planned, as had already been built by other Roman noble families and cardinals in Rome. In 1515 he commissioned the 34-year-old architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger from Florence - a student of Donato Bramante and Raffael and the builder of St. Peter - to build the new palace. Around 1517, work and demolition of the Palazzo Ferriz began. When the 66-year-old Farnese was elected Pope in 1534, as Paul III, he had the building plans changed to meet the new representative requirements and the staging of his family's claim to power. Sangallo expanded the original plan into a four-wing complex. This affected both the exterior and the cortile, which was enlarged from three to five arcades, which was equivalent to building a new palace. The Pope pushed the construction of the palazzo forward as a matter of state and personally made important decisions for its construction. His son Pierluigi signed the contract with the master masons on March 29, 1541, which means nothing other than that Sangallo had already completed his new plans.
The final structure was designed by Sangallo as a free-standing, three-story, fortress-like exterior with an atrium and a peristyle based on ancient prototypes, according to Vitruvius' description of the Roman house. The models for this type of palace, albeit on a much smaller scale, can be found in Florence, such as the Palazzo Medici Riccardi , the Palazzo Strozzi or the Palazzo Pandolfini . The south-western side of the building is oriented towards the Tiber, while the north-east facing main facade dominates the Piazza Farnese. From the beginning, a large forecourt, today's Piazza Farnese with a connecting road to Campo de 'Fiori, was planned. The buildings opposite the facade on the former Via della Regola, including one belonging to Sigismondo Chigi , were bought and demolished. In the execution of the main facade, the arcade floors and the lower floors of the cortile as well as the three-aisled vestibule originate from Sangallo.
When Sangallo died in 1546 the outer walls were almost finished. A report on the construction progress in 1547 to Pierluigi Farnese states that the facade up to the top rows of windows with the exception of the cornice was completed and that most of the rooms were habitable. Michelangelo took over the construction management, as he did in St. Peter from Sangallo, until the death of Pope Paul III. He raised the third storey of the facade and redesigned the central windows above the portal into an honorary loggia as an eye-catcher and central point of the facade. He closed the facade with a wide, encircling cornice above and had this carried out around the entire exterior. He changed the design of the square cortile by closing the open arcades on the first floor on two sides, which also happened on the other two in the 19th century (the balustrades are still evidence of the original design) and added the second floor as a window front Order of pilasters. In the south-western extension of the axis from the main portal to the Tiber he intended to build a bridge over the Tiber and thus create a connection to the Farnese possessions in Trastevere. However, the plan never came to fruition. At the same time, the first fresco painting in the palace was commissioned: around 1547 Daniele da Volterra , who worked in Michelangelo's entourage, was commissioned to decorate the cardinal's room in the Piano Nobile.
After the death of the Farnese Pope in November 1549, construction work on the huge palace continued on behalf of his grandson, the Great Cardinal Alessandro Farnese . In 1552 he commissioned the Bolognese builder Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola, who also worked for the Farnese in the execution of the Villa Farnese in Caprarola and the church Il Gesù in Rome. Michelangelo had been entrusted with the construction management of St. Peter's Basilica since 1547 and was hardly available any more. Vignola completed the rear wing with the gallery and the facade facing the Tiber. Commissioned by Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese, the painter Francesco Salviati painted the Sala dei Fasti in 1552 , which was completed by Taddeo Zuccari in 1565 . When Ranuccio died in 1565 at the age of 35, his older brother, the Great Cardinal Alessandro, took over the further expansion of the palace, although he resided as Vice Chancellor in the Palazzo della Cancelleria .
In 1573 the Lombard architect Giacomo della Porta, a pupil of Michelangelo, was entrusted with the management of the work after Vignola died that same year. Della Porta completed the garden facade with the open loggia and completed the entire building in 1589 - after almost 75 years of construction, which often had to be interrupted again and again for lack of money, due to dynastic conflicts, during the Sacco di Roma and due to other adversities in history. The final completion is recorded in an inscription on the garden facade of the palace (picture) .
With Cardinal Odoardo Farnese , a son of the Duke of Parma, Alessandro Farnese and descendant of the 3rd generation of Pope Paul III, the interior of the palace was continued. The brothers Annibale and Agostino Caracci came to Rome in 1595 with the support of the court in Parma to put on the frescoes of the Camerino d'Ercole (Cabinet of Hercules). After its completion in 1597, Cardinal Odoardo Annibale Caracci commissioned the frescoes in the gallery, which were to go down in art history as a key work of baroque painting under the name Galleria Farnese . Part of Michelangelo's plan to connect the palace to the other bank of the Tiber by a bridge was carried out by Cardinal Odoardo in 1603 by having the passetto built over Via Giulia, which gave him easy access to his retreat on the banks of the Tiber, the Palazzetto di Ordoardo made possible. After Odoardo's death in 1626, Farnese no longer lived in the palace, the museum residence was rented out by the Dukes of Parma and viewed as a treasure trove of valuable antiques for furnishing their villas and palaces.
It was not until the 19th century, after the palace came into the possession of the Bourbons through succession , that architectural changes and restorations began to appear again, for the first time in 1818 on the occasion of the negotiations between King Ferdinand I (Sicily) on the Concordat with the Holy See. After the palace became the seat of the government-in-exile of the last King of Sicily, Francis II , in 1860 , it was renovated by the Neapolitan architect Antonio Cipolla and the frescoes and decorations of the rooms in the Piano Nobile were repaired by the Grassi brothers.
The French state is undergoing ongoing restoration work under its lease. In 1958 the frescoes by the Caracci brothers were renovated for the first time, in 1975 the Sala dei Fasti and the double frieze in the Stanza del Cardinale. The Galleria Farnese underwent a complete structural renovation in 1994. From 1997 the embassy started a comprehensive renovation program, starting with the main facade, which was given its original color again. The cortile and vestibule followed in the years 2000–2001, and finally the garden facade in 2002. At the same time, restoration work began in the Salone d'Ercole in 2002. The work of the French embassy in Italy was carried out in scientific and structural cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Cultural Property and Tourism (Italy) . In 2013, restoration work began again in the Galleria Farnese.
Usage history
The Farnese
Alessandro Farnese, who later became Pope Paul III. Presumably lived as a cardinal in Cardinal Ferriz's house before he bought it in 1495 and had it renovated initially. After he had a new building built in 1517 and relocated with his court to Trastevere , Pope Leo X was able to inspect the unfinished work in the spring of 1519. In 1526 there were already 366 people living in the palace, that is the number of people in the famiglia , the cardinal's court. After his election as Pope, he gave the palace to his son Pierluigi. After the Pope's death, Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese , a grandson of Paul III, was the first to make the palace his residence from 1544. The miniature painter Giulio Clovio, who was highly valued by the family and creator of an artistic book of hours and later a Gospel book, was given an apartment in the palazzo, which he kept until his death in 1548. During the Parma War of 1551–52, the Farnese were from Pope Julius III. banished from Rome after placing themselves under French protection. Their goods had been confiscated and the palazzo's furnishings were sold, also to put an end to their policy of enrichment. Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese returned to the palace after the armistice in 1552. In 1553, Cardinal Jean du Bellay , the first ambassador to King Henry II , accepted the Farnese residence at the palace as a guest. From Cardinal Odoardo Farnese (1573–1626), son of the Duke of Parma, Alessandro Farnese , it is recorded that he resided in the Palazzo Farnese with great pomp and a court of 300 people. Cardinal Odoardo was the last direct Farnese descendant of Pope Paul III to inhabit the palace. His heirs, the dukes of Parma, had no ties to the papacy and therefore had no reason to make the palace in Rome their residence. In 1635, Duke Odoardo I Farnese of Parma rented the palace to the ambassadors of the kings of France. The palace remained the seat of the French ambassadors until 1688. Important residents of the palace, who always used it for representative purposes, were during this time: Cardinal Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de Richelieu as ambassador of his brother Cardinal Richelieu 1634-1636 and the Duke Charles III. de Créquy , who was French ambassador to Rome from 1662 to 1665. From 1636 to 1648 the Marshal of France François-Annibal d'Estrées lived in the palace as envoy extraordinary. Henry Charles de Beaumanoir-Lavardin, appointed by Louis XIV , faced that of Pope Innocent XI. decreed restriction of the extraterritoriality of the embassies in Rome and in 1678 occupied the Palazzo Farnese with armed force. It was not until the beginning of the 18th century that a descendant of the family, Francesco Farnese , Duke of Parma, lived in the now badly damaged Palazzo Farnese again.
One of the most famous residents of the palace was Queen Christine of Sweden . She resided in the palace from 1655 to 1658 as a guest of Ranuccio II , Duke of Parma. In 1656 she founded a poets' circle here, later the Accademia dell'Arcadia , and gave a reception every Wednesday so that nobles, clergymen and artists had the opportunity to admire the beauties of the palace that had long been withheld from the public. In this way, in the middle of the 17th century, she made the Palazzo Farnese the social, literary and artistic center of Rome.
Numerous artists found acceptance in the Palazzo Farnese: El Greco was a guest of his patron of the Great Cardinal Alessandro through the mediation of Giulio Clovio around 1570 . Nicolas Poussin was the guest of the ambassador Duc de Créquy from 1643. Charles Le Brun came to the palace on the recommendation of Nicolas Poussin.
The Bourbons
With Francesco's death (1727), the male line of the Farnese family died out and Elisabetta Farnese , married to King Philip V of Spain, took over the entire Farnese legacy. This means that the Palazzo Farnese also becomes the property of the Spanish Bourbons. Charles III , the son of Elisabetta and Philip V is heir to the palace. Charles III and his son Ferdinand I transferred the collections of paintings and art objects to their residence in Naples. The Bourbons keep the palace as the seat of their diplomatic mission in Rome. In 1808 Joachim Murat resided in the palace for a short time as King of Naples. After Giuseppe Garibaldi took Naples in 1861, Francesco II , the last king of the two Sicilies, and his wife Marie Sophie of Bavaria went into exile in Rome and took refuge in the Palazzo Farnese, which became the seat of the royal government in exile until 1870. The last Bourbon heir Alfonso XII. , King of the Two Sicilies took over the palace in 1874 and from the same year had the French Embassy reside in the Piano Nobile. The École française de Rome with its extensive library was set up on the second floor in 1875 , and its research activities in the palazzo to this day. Alfonso XII sold the Palazzo Farnese to the French Republic in 1911 .
Italian possession
The Italian government under Benito Mussolini acquired the Palazzo in 1936 by exercising the contractually agreed right of first refusal, transferred it into state ownership, but left the use of the French Republic for its Italian embassy in Rome for 99 years and at a symbolic price. With the lease, France took on the maintenance requirement, which includes the obligation to preserve the entire building fabric and the valuable frescoes of the Palazzo Farnese.
From December 2010 to April 2011, the palace was open to the general public for the first time on the occasion of the exhibition Palazzo Farnese, from the Renaissance to the French Embassy . In this context, 140 paintings, statues, furniture and architectural details of the building could be shown.
Exterior design
The rectangular, free-standing structure, which earned it the nickname Dado (cube), consists of a facade wing, two side wings and a garden wing that surround a central arcade courtyard (cortile). The building does not contain any shops on the lower floor, as was customary in earlier palace buildings. The walls are built in brick, the templates on the corner blocks, the porch and the portals are sculpted in the travertine that is preferred in Rome. The building material used for this should come from the Colosseum, which was then used as a quarry.
The facades
Main facade to Piazza Farnese
The main facade of the palace facing the Piazza Farnese was built between 1541 and 1547 according to the new plans of Sangallo and Michelangelos. It has a width of 57 meters and a height of 29 meters. The design by Antonio da Sangallos follows the architectural tradition of Donato Bramante and Raffael in the sense of the classic structure of a Renaissance facade. The strictly horizontal and symmetrical order is determined by the three-story architecture, structured by pronounced cornices and the aedicules emphasized by columns or pilasters. Today's color scheme underlines this character. The corner rustics change from the ground floor to the third floor from coarse bosses to refined slab bosses. The ground floor is dominated by a mighty gate lined with rustication blocks. On each side there are six latticed windows supported on knee brackets with simple window cornices and underneath the row of seats typical of city palaces. Above the gate, the wide, middle window with the balcony in front of it and the lily coat of arms of the Farnese attached above - the largest coat of arms with papal tiara in Rome - forms the loggia of honor and thus the eye-catcher of the facade. The six windows on each side show alternating triangular and segmented gables, framed by half-columns. On the second floor, the 13 arched windows are supported on knee brackets and have uniformly cranked triangular gables. The elevation of the top floor by three meters and the multi-part cornice with the pronounced lily frieze, the heraldic symbol of the Farnese, goes back to Michelangelo and creates the powerful, unique effect of the facade, which was admired many times during Michelangelo's lifetime.
Facade to Via Giulia
The southwest facade faces the Tiber and the palace garden. It was completed from 1549 onwards to designs by Michelangelo and drawings by Vignola by Giacomo della Porta. The latter designed the central loggia with arches on the top floor that are twice as high as the neighboring windows.
The side facades to Via dei Farnesi (Fig.) And Via del Mascherone (Fig.) Take on the three-part division of the main facade, as does the mighty, multi-part cornice that surrounds the palace on all sides.
garden
A small garden closes the palazzo from Via Giulia. Michelangelo's original plans were to position the Farnesian bull from the Caracalla Baths in the line of sight. The most spectacular and technically complex group of sculptures that has been preserved from antiquity was excavated in August 1545 in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome and has been installed in the Palazzo Farnese since January 4, 1546. Around 1550 it was restored on Michelangelo's advice and placed in the second courtyard, today's garden, where it served as a fountain. Around 1588, however, the group was released from this function and protected by a renovation, although it could still be visited without any problems.
Palazzetto di Odoardo
In the garden of the Palazzo Farnese sloping down towards the Tiber, Cardinal Odoardo Farnese had a small palace (palazzetto), also known as the Eremo del cardinale (hermitage of the cardinal), built as his private retreat. Odoardo was to be its first and last occupant. The private apartments were accessible from the palace via a terrace and the Passetto Farnese, completed in 1603, via Via Giulia. On the Prospectus (fig.) Of Antonio Tempesta , completed in 1645, the terrace and the Passetto are located. Because of the neighboring church of Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte , he named the Palazzetto Casino della Morte . This small building was surrounded by a Giardino segreto (private garden). The interiors were decorated with frescoes by Annibale Carracci, completed in 1603 by his students Domenichino and Giovanni Lanfranco . The Palazzetto and with it most of the decoration fell victim to the regulation of the Tiber after 1870. Only a few parts of Domenichino's frescoes were saved; they are preserved today in the Salone delle Firme in the piano nobile of the palace: The death of Adonis , Apollo and Hyacinth , as well as Narcissus looking at his reflection . More of the saved frescoes by Giovanni Lanfranco Paulus von Thebes , Symeon Stylites and Anthony the Great are now in the neighboring church of Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte.
Interior
ground floor
Vestibule (A)
Originally there were three passages leading to the cortile, today only the main entrance with the north-eastern vestibule remains. It lies in the symmetrical axis of the building and, after the cortile on the opposite side, extends into a barrel-vaulted corridor leading to the garden and Via Giulia. The 12 columns made of gray and pink granite that separate the three-part structure are spoils from ancient buildings. In order to bring them to the same height as the pilasters of the Cortile, Sangallo placed them on high pedestals. The coffered barrel vault of the passage is adorned with lilies and unicorns, the symbols of the Farnese. The side walls are structured by an alternation of niches and half-columns made of travertine, and busts of Roman emperors are placed in the niches.
Cortile (B)
Each side of the square inner courtyard consists of five arcade arches, the massive pillars show Doric half-columns with a lily frieze on high pedestals. A decorative triglyph frieze with weapons, helmets and shields, a belt and a base cornice create the transition to the Piano Nobile. The then rediscovered Marcellus Theater is said to have served as a model . Opposite the vestibule, in the central axis, an archway leads to the garden. The arcades on the first floor continue the rhythm of the structure upwards. Michelangelo, who completed the inner courtyard, kept the Ionic style of the half-columns envisaged for the Piano Nobile and closed the windows with triangular gables. A narrow architrave, a frieze with garlands of fruit, grotesques and lilies separate the piano nobile from the top floor, interrupted by small windows in the wide plinth that suggest a mezzanine floor. On the top floor, the vertical structure is repeated in the form of bundle pilasters with composite capitals in the style of the classic column order. The windows are closed with segment gables, the fields of which are adorned with bucrania - as a sign of piety and fear of God. A frieze and a cornice complete the cortile at the top. The inner walls of the arcade and the portals are structured by travertine pilasters with Doric capitals. The Cortile is considered to be one of the most beautiful and perfectly formed courtyards in Rome. There are two antique sarcophagi in the arcades on the garden side .
Piano nobile
The representative rooms on the first floor make the splendor and the luxurious life the program. A wide vaulted grand staircase (12) leads from the eastern corner of the Cortile to the Piano Nobile.
Sala dei Fasti Farnese (State Room) (1)
The representation room perpetuates the heroic deeds of famous ancestors of the Farnese family and pays homage to the glory of Pope Paul III. In 1552, Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese commissioned the painter Francesco Salviati to decorate the side walls of the room with the loggia of honor with frescoes depicting the Farnese victories and the glorious history of the family. After the death of Francesco Salviati, the brothers Taddeo and Federico Zuccari were entrusted with the completion of these frescoes and the frescoing of the short walls. The room is covered by a golden coffered ceiling designed by Sangallo . Today it serves as the office of the French ambassador.
On the right wall of the entrance: Pope Paul III sits in the center. as the apotheosis of the splendor of the family and the founder of wealth. The cartouche above shows the tiara , held by the symbolic figures of spiritual and worldly power. In the left image field the Pope mediates the Peace of Nice between Emperor Charles V and the French King Franz I in 1538. In the right image field in the foreground two people discussing, according to the usual interpretation: Martin Luther and the Dominican General Cardinal Cajetan before the presentation of the convocation of the Council of Trent in 1545 under Paul III. The figures on the right and left picture frames are the allegories of peace and glory. The Farnese coats of arms, blue lilies on a gold background, adorn the scenes.
On the left wall of the entrance: Salviati chose the same composition, this time sitting in the center with a shield and lance is Ranuccio Farnese il Vecchio , depicted as Aeneas who has defeated his enemies. In the cartouche above, Venus hands him the weapons forged by Vulcanus, such as sword, greaves and helmet. In the left field next to Ranuccio, Pope Martin V hands him the insignia as military leader, the command staff and the helmet - again crowned with the coat of arms of the Farnese. In the field to the right of Ranuccio, the Capitano generale Pietro Farnese (1310–1363) on the white horse, who was sent by the Roman Senate and defeated the Pisans in the Battle of Bagno a Vena in 1363 , above a Farnese coat of arms as the gonfalonier of the church . On the left outer edge of the scenes the god of war Mars watches with Cerberus at his feet, in the right edge of the picture the goddess Minerva with helmet, shield and snake.
Glorification of Paul III - Francesco Salviati (right side)
Glorification of Ranuccio il Vecchio - Francesco Salviati (left side)
The scene above the front door depicts Pietro Farnese as the founder of Orbetello (1100), framed by allegorical figures. Opposite the exit to Michelangelo's loggia, lined with marble columns, is the fresco of The Condottiere Pietro Nicola Farnese in the Battle of Bologna (1360).
Salone d'Ercole (Salon of Hercules) (2)
The Hercules Salon owes its enormous size to the designs by Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo. Sangallo originally planned a representative hall of 300 square meters on two levels at the north corner of the Piano Nobile. The elevation of the facade as a result of the construction prompted Michelangelo to raise the ceiling of the room to 18 meters up to the roof. Cardinal Odoardo rejected the plan to have this room painted by Annibale Carracci. The walls were left without frescoes. Only the busts of Roman emperors in 18 gilded niches and two tapestries from the 17th century adorn the walls. On the south-east side of the room is a copy of Hercules Farnese , after whom the room is named. The original of this famous sculpture is now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. The north-west side is adorned with a fireplace made of polychrome marble, based on a design by Vignola. The blue Farnese lilies and the inscription RANUTIUS FARNESIUS CARD. refer to Cardinal Ranuccio Farnese. The sculptures on either side of the chimney are the work of the Lombard sculptor Guglielmo della Porta and were originally for the tomb of Paul III. determined in the choir of St. Peter. They are the allegories The Abundatia (Abundance) and The Pax (Peace). The tapestries mounted high on the walls are copies of Raphael's famous frescoes in the rooms of the Vatican: Pope Leo the Great meets Attila, King of the Huns, above the chimney and the fire in the Borgo on the southwest wall . The cedar coffered ceiling is based on a design by Sangallo.
Stanza del Cardinale (Cardinal's Room) (3)
The cardinal's room on the north side of the piano nobile was used by the cardinals Ranuccio and later Alessandro as a lounge. It is dominated by an elaborately designed, golden coffered ceiling with a surrounding, richly decorated, double frieze, which go back to designs by Sangallo. It was probably Paul III who commissioned Daniele da Volterra with the artistic design of the room around 1547 . The paintings in twelve medallions in the upper frieze band of the four walls represent the myth of Bacchus. It is a double cycle on which the fame of the Farnese and the Church is represented: the unicorn , the Farnese heraldic animal, which pierces the enemies; the legends of the triumph of Bacchus over the drunken Silenus on the donkey with the arrow in his forehead; the maenads tear Pentheus apart . The stucco decorations with winged putti between the frescoes, the cloths with golden fringes, the sphinxes, rows of garlands made of vine leaves and grotesque masks testify to the art of the plasterer.
Camerino dei possedimenti (changing room) (4)
Francesco II , the last king of Naples, went into exile in Rome after his deposition and established his royal residence in the Palazzo Farnese. The Neapolitan architect Antonio Cipolla was commissioned to design this and some adjoining rooms in the Piano Nobile in a suitable manner. The room is characterized by grotesque paintings in the Pompeian style. The panels on the walls show views of places that were part of the Farnese estate: Caprarola, Parma and Piacenza. On the ceiling the coat of arms of the Farnese under the crown of the Kingdom of Naples.
Camerino d'Ercole (Cabinet of Hercules) (5)
In 1594, Cardinal Odoardo Farnese commissioned the painter Annibale Carracci to decorate this room in the palace, also known as Gabinetto del Cardinale or Camerino Farnese . This is Annibale's first work in Rome (1595 - 1597) before he began the demanding work on the Galleria (11).
The frescoes on the vaulted ceiling of the cardinal's bedroom show the master of the house Odoardo in six fields in the form of Hercules. The mythological program was developed by the long-time adviser and archivist of the Farnese family, Fulvio Orsini , to whom the Greek inscriptions also go back. The ceiling is divided into irregular fields by a gilded framework. In the middle of the ceiling is the rectangular painting Hercules at the Crossroads , as a pensive giant between vice and virtue. The woman in the white robe on the right symbolizes pleasure. Virtue, the woman on the left with a sword, points towards Pegasus, also a symbol of the Farnese family. The original oil painting has been in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples since 1662 . On the sides of the picture, two medallions show the cardinal's coat of arms: three purple lilies tied together with a ribbon bearing the inscription I believe with God's help in Greek. The two oval side images depict Hercules resting from his battles and Hercules carrying the atlas . The complex ceiling cycle is continued in the lunettes, in which the virtues are represented in the form of mythological episodes.
At the front of the room there are two scenes from the Odyssey : Odysseus with Circe and Odysseus tied to the mast to avoid the singing of the sirens . Two other lunettes in the room contain the saga of Amphinomos and Anapias , as well as the death of Medusa , as well as flying female genii with laurel wreaths. The open areas of the room are covered with grisaille that simulate stucco decorations.
Camerini (Cabinets) (6)
The grotesques in the cross-domed ceilings and on the walls of these two rooms date from the time of the renovations and rededications by Antonio Cipolla in the mid-19th century.
Salone delle Firme (Salon of the Signatures) (7)
On the walls of the room are three fragments of detached frescoes from the Palazzetto di Ordoardo . These frescoes were made in 1603 by Domenichino under the influence of Annibale Carracci for Cardinal Odoardo. Depicted are Apollo and Hyacinth , The Death of Adonis and Narcissus , looking at his reflection . The coffered ceiling shows the Farnese coat of arms in the center.
Salone giallo (Yellow Salon) (8)
Two valuable tapestries hang on the walls of the room. The frieze was designed by Antonio Cipolla between 1862 and 1863. The center of the magnificent coffered ceiling is adorned with the coat of arms of the Great Cardinal Alessandro Farnese; in the four spaces the symbols of various Farnese family members: Pegasus , lilies , shield and ship .
Salone bianco (White Salon) (9)
This salon is also called Queen Christine's room because the Queen of Sweden lived in it from December 1655 to July 1656. On the coffered ceiling the coat of arms of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese. A window opens onto the garden and a door leads to the terrace, built in 1603, and further to the Passetto, which connects the palace with the Palazzetto di Odoardo . The terrace was also used as a grandstand from which the festive society could watch horse races through Via Giulia, especially during Carnival. It was also used for night celebrations on the Tiber. The rooms below, the former hall for the Pallacorda ball game , now serve as the embassy cinema.
Salone rosso (Red Salon) (10)
The room was also called the Salon of the Philosophers , as the busts of ancient philosophers and Greek poets were displayed until 1787. Cardinal Odoardo Farnese had the marble statues of Venus Callipygos and the Crouching Venus, which he had acquired, set up in this salon . These statues are now in the Archaeological Museum in Naples. Two valuable tapestries adorn the walls: the wedding of the psyche according to Giulio Romano and the wedding of the Zephyr with Flora according to Pierre Mignard . The fireplace is made of polychrome marble. The gilded coffered ceiling dates from the 16th century. Around 1860 Antonio Cipolla had the decoration of the frieze redesigned.
Farnese Gallery (11)
The Farnese's relationships with the Carracci family of artists from Bologna go back to their work for the Duke of Parma, Ranuccio I Farnese , brother of Cardinal Odoardo. In 1597, after completing the frescoes in the Camerino d'Ercole (Cabinet of Hercules), Annibale Carracci began to fresco the Great Gallery facing Via Giulia, which is designed in the form of an ancient loggia with three glass windows and a deep barrel vault. It measures 20 × 6 meters and was originally the hall that was used to display the ancient statues. The scenes Galatea and Cephalos and Aurora on the cornice probably go back to his brother Agostino Carracci . He left Rome as early as 1600, so that his brother Annibale Carracci carried out most of the work and completed it in 1604 with his students Francesco Albani and Domenichino , who were also from Bologna . The occasion for the opening of the gallery in 1601 was possibly the wedding between Duke Ranuccio I and Margherita Aldobrandini , a niece of Pope Clement VIII , where it was first presented to the party.
The installation of the ceiling painting is considered a masterpiece of illusionism in art history . It gives the viewer the impression that the wall surface is expanding: Annibale Carracci painted a second above the real ceiling cornice, which is supported by atlases in grisaille paintings that perfectly simulate marble statues. In the apparent openings in between, he placed medallions, the green tone of which dictates the patina of bronze, while the paintings, some of which are framed in gold, are located in rectangles on the ceiling.
The scenes shown are populated with depictions of the largely naked goddesses and gods of Olympus and with love stories of the ancient world of gods, as they were largely sung about by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. In the time of the Counter Reformation, this may seem unusual for a cardinal's entourage. The central fresco shows the triumphal procession of Bacchus and Ariadne , framed on the sides by Pan and Diane (left) and Mercury brings Paris the golden apple (right). According to the art historian Giovanni Pietro Bellori from the 17th century, the basic theme of the entire cycle is the battle between heavenly and earthly love. Newer interpretations assume a much more political-propagandistic intention of the picture design.
Today, the frescoes are considered to be one of the main works of early Italian Baroque, they received the highest recognition after they were completed and served as models for entire generations of painters.
The ceiling of the Galleria Farnese
Corridor (13)
A series of three vaulted corridors runs around the courtyard side of the Piano Nobile in a U-shape. A simple window front framed by large arches opens up on the sides of the cortile. The side walls are decorated with some tapestries and paintings. Noteworthy in the south-west wing, next to the entrance to the Salone delle Firme (7), is a portrait bust of Pope Paul III. by Guglielmo della Porta.
Bourbon Apartments (14)
This suite of rooms on the northwest side of the palace was set up as living quarters for the fled Bourbon king Francesco II and his family from 1860.
First floor
On the upper floor there was an extensive library compiled by the cardinals and the adviser and librarian Fulvio Orsini as early as the 16th century. In the same large library room (a) is now the largest French research library outside France with over 200,000 books. It belongs to the scientific research institute École française de Rome , which has resided in the palazzo since 1875. Her main focus is on historical, archaeological and social science research into the Mediterranean region.
Basement rooms
In the basement there are partly well-preserved mosaics with depictions of equestrian acrobats and marine animals, which testify to the remains of large public buildings from the imperial era. Presumably these originated after the great fire on the Marsfeld. It should have been the riding stable of the Factio Russata circus party .
The palazzo as a model for architectural history
The architectural design of the palace designed by Sangallo became a model for a type of palace that enjoyed great popularity in Rome and was copied many times. One of the most famous buildings is the Lateran Palace , which Pope Sixtus V had the builder Domenico Fontana built.
The Palazzo from the time of the High Renaissance served almost without interruption as a model for palace buildings around the world: The Palacio Real of Riofrío , built by Elisabetta Farnese , is visibly influenced by the Palazzo Farnese. The buildings of the Detroit Athletic Club in Detroit, USA, Château Grimaldi near Aix-en-Provence in France, the National Building Museum in Washington DC in the USA, the Chief Secretary's Building in Sydney, Australia and the Royal Palace in Stockholm in Sweden are influenced by the building type and design language developed by Sangallo. In England, Charles Barrys had great admiration for the building, who took it as a model for the Reform Club in London. The architect Aldo Rossi furnished a block with three window axes in the Schützenstrasse district (1994–1998) in Berlin with a true-to-original copy of Michelangelo's courtyard facade (Schützenstrasse 8).
The Farnese Collection
As a place of representation for the Farnese family, the palace was exquisitely furnished with an art collection that was unparalleled from around 1540. It was founded by Pope Paul III, who secured excavation rights to build up the collection of antiquities on the Palatine , the Capitol , the Castel Sant'Angelo and the Caracalla Baths ; The two most valuable pieces, the Farnesian bull and the Hercules, come from the latter . The cardinals Alessandro, his brother Ranuccio and in the new century also Odoardo inherited the Pope's passion for collecting and continued the idea of connecting ancient Rome with new Rome, its power, its art and its culture and thus fame with an iconographic program of the Farnese family. They received support and advice from well-known humanists such as Onofrio Panvinio , Fulvio Orsini , Pirro Ligorio and Paolo Giovio in developing the program . The collection has been continuously supplemented and expanded through acquisitions, such as the Sassi and Cesarini collections, through inheritances such as the collections of Margarethe von Parma and Fulvio Orsini, through donations such as the Cesi collection or through unfair appropriation and confiscation, like the part of the Colonna collection. Pope Paul III, but especially Alessandro, his grandson, who was known as a great patron, commissioned the most important artists of his time such as Michelangelo, Raffael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Correggio and, from 1543, Titian to produce paintings, drawings and engravings. Annibale Carracci, Giulio Clovio and El Greco worked for the Farnese under her heirs. Many artists had free access to the collection in order to use it as a source of inspiration. Tapestries, marble work, coins, jewels, goldsmiths and ivory work completed the valuable holdings of the Museum Farnese. In this way the family became the greatest collector of Rome in Quinquecento and their court became the center of powerful and proud church princes with an immeasurable art treasure.
As early as the 16th century, indexes and inventory lists of the collection, especially of antiques and drawings, were made several times. However, a comprehensive inventory of all Farnese possessions in Rome, the Palazzo, Villa Farnesina, Villa Madama and the Farnese Gardens on the Palatine Hill was not created until 1644, 18 years after Odoardo's death, and sent to Parma in 1649.
In the 17th century, the Farnese, as Dukes of Parma, resided exclusively in their residence in Parma and moved most of the painting collection to the Palazzo Ducale in Parma. 1734 the son of the last Farnese Elisabetta, Karl III. King of Naples. He and his son Ferdinand I gradually transferred both the collection in Parma and that of the Palazzo Farnese to Naples. Today the ancient sculptures from the Farnese collection are in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples and the most important paintings from the collection are in the Museo di Capodimonte , also in Naples.
Trivia
- Emile Zola gives a very impressive description of the palace and its condition in 1894 in his novel Rome .
- In the second act of Puccini's opera Tosca , the heroine Tosca confronts the police prefect Scarpia in Palazzo Farnese.
- In 1992, the palazzo served as the backdrop in the opera adaptation Tosca , with the conductor Zubin Mehta , Catherine Malfitano as Tosca and Placido Domingo in the role of Mario Cavaradossi.
- In 2010, Nanni Moretti shot several scenes from the film Habemus Papam - A Pope stumbles in the palace.
See also
- Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola
- Villa Farnesina in Rome
- Farnese Gardens on the Palatine Hill in Rome
- Villa Medici in Rome
literature
- Connaissance des Arts: Palazzo Farnese , Société Française de Promotion Artistique, Paris 2010, ISSN 1242-9198 - The year information and the description of the rooms is essentially taken from this booklet.
- Giovanni Pietro Bellori : Le Vite de'pittori, scultori et architetti moderni , Parte Prima, Roma, 1672, pp. 44–66.
- Leo Bruhns : The art of the city of Rome, Verlag Anton Schroll, Vienna, Munich, 1951/1972.
- Laura, Caterina Cherubini: Restauri in Palazzo Farnese a Roma, in: Frommel, Christoph Luitpold (ed.): Vignola ei Farnese, Roma 2003, pp. 60-72.
- Christoph Luitpold Frommel : Palazzo Farnese ; in: Der Römische Palastbau der Hochrenaissance , Tübingen 1973. Vol. 1, ISBN 3-8030-4551-7 , pp. 123-148.
- Umberto Gnoli: Le Palais Farnèse [Notes et documents]. In: Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire Volume 54, 1937, pp. 200–210; doi : 10.3406 / mefr.1937.8703
- Herman Grimm : Michelangelo - his life in the history and culture of his time, the heyday of art in Florence and Rome , Safari-Verlag, Berlin 1967 p. 329 ff.
- Irina Marzik: The image program of the Galleria Farnese in Rome , Frankfurt research on art, 13, Berlin 1986.
- Markus Völkel: Farnese In: Volker Reinhardt (Ed.): The great families of Italy (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 485). Kröner, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-520-48501-X , p. 259 ff.
- Claudio Rendina: Palazzi Storici di Roma , Newton & Compton, Rome, ISBN 88-541-0444-2 .
- Carlo Cresti and Claudio Rendina: Roman villas and palaces HF Ullmann, Potsdam, 2013, ISBN 978-3-84800347-1 , p. 110 ff.
- Christina Riebesell: The Farnese Collection of Antiquities during the Carracci Period , Publications de l'École Française de Rome, 1988, pp. 373-417.
- Giorgio Vasari : Le vite de 'più eccellenti architetti, pittori, et scultori italiani, da Cimabue insino a' tempi nostri. Nell'edizione per i tipi di Giunti - Firenze 1568
- Hugo Schmerber : Carracci, Annibale . In: Ulrich Thieme (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 6 : Carlini-Cioci . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1912, p. 235–237 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive ).
- The splendor of the Farnese, art and passion for collecting in the Renaissance . Exhibition catalog Haus der Kunst, Munich, Electra-Elemont, Milan 1995.
Web links
- Virtual tour of Palazzo Farnese (fr, it)
- Website of the French Embassy in Italy, Rome (fr, it)
- Website of the École française de Rome (fr, it)
- Palazzo Farnese, architectural information
- Jan-Christoph Rößler: Roman palaces, Palazzo Farnese
- Tour of the palace (en, fr, it)
- Ingeborg Walter in SZ: Exhibition at Palazzo Farnese 2011
- François Uginet: Il Palazzo Farnese ; Associazione dimore storiche - Sezione Lazio, 2013 (it)
- Hans Tietze: Annibale Carracci's gallery in the Palazzo Farnese and his Roman workshop
Individual evidence
- ↑ with the Passetto , the Palazzetto di Odoardo and the Church of Santa Maria dell'Orazione e Morte
- ↑ U.Gnoli: Le Palais Farnèse, p 202
- ↑ U.Gnoli: Le Palais Farnèse, p 203
- ^ Giorgio Vasari: Le Vite 1550, p. 837
- ↑ Connaissance des'Arts
- ↑ U.Gnoli: Le Palais Farnèse, p 204
- ↑ U.Gnoli: Le Palais Farnèse, p 206
- ↑ Vasari: Le Vite 1568 - Antonio da Sangallo: Rovinate dunque alcune case che gli erano intorno e le scale vecchie, le rifece di nuovo e più dolci, accrebbe il cortile per ogni verso e parimente tutto il palazzo ( after having seen some buildings, who stood in the way and had torn down the old stairs, he made them new and softer, enlarged the courtyard on each side and likewise the whole palace )
- ^ Volker Reinhard: The great families of Italy, p. 268
- ^ Leo Bruhns: Die Kunst der Stadt Rom, p. 399
- ^ Vitruvius: Book VI, 3
- ↑ L.Ch. Frommel: The Architecture of the Renaissance in Italy; P. 164 ff.
- ↑ U.Gnoli: Le Palais Farnèse, p 208
- ^ Stefan Grundmann: Architecture Guide Rome, p. 142
- ^ Vasari: Le Vite 1568 - Vita di Michelangelo Buonarroti Fiorentino
- ^ CL Frommel: The Farnesina and Peruzzis early architectural work, p. 54
- ↑ Inscription on the garden side: ALEX CAR FARNESIVS VICECAN / EPISCOPVS OSTIENSIS / AEDES A PAVLO III PON MAX / ANTE PONTIFICATVM INCHOATAS / PERFICIT AN MDXXCIX ( Alexander Cardinal Farnese, Vice Chancellor, whose bishop of Ostia started the building of Paul III Completed in 1589 )
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Breve-chronologie-du-Palais
- ^ Leo Bruhns: Die Kunst der Stadt Rom, p. 398
- ↑ Flaminia Bardati: Between the king and the pope: French cardinals in Rome (1495–1560), Urban History, 37.3 (2010)
- ↑ Lease: Homepage of the French Embassy in Palazzo Farnese , accessed on April 14, 2018 (Italian, French)
- ↑ Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel– http://ta.sandrart.net/-artwork-595
- ^ Roberto Zapperi: Odoardo Farnese, principe e cardinale , Publications de l'École Française de Rome, p. 345
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Sala-dei-Fasti
- ↑ San Giovanna alla Vena; Province of Pisa
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Salone-d-Ercole
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Camera-del-Cardinale
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Sala-dei-possedimenti
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Camerino-d-Ercole
- ↑ R. Zapperi: The envy and power, p. 128 ff.
- ↑ Hans Tietze: Annibale Carraccis Galerie im Palazzo Farnese , pp. 65–71; Hugo Schmerber: Carracci, Annibale . In: Ulrich Thieme (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 6 : Carlini-Cioci . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1912, p. 236–237 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ). .
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Camerini,4671
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Salone-delle-firme
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Salone-giallo
- ↑ DUARTES FARNESIUS
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Salone-bianco
- ↑ https://it.ambafrance.org/Salone-rosso
- ^ Giovanni Pietro Bellori: Le Vite p. 47 ff.
- ↑ Iris Marzink: The image program of the Galleria Farnese in Rome
- ↑ Connaissance des Arts: p. 17
- ^ Dumont visuell: Rom, Dumont, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-7701-3301-3 , p. 239.
- ↑ Rodolfo Lanciani : Scavi II (1886), p. 150 ff.
- ↑ Christina Riebesell: Die Antikensammlung, p. 374 ff.
- ↑ Connaissance des Arts, p. 50 ff.
- ^ Exhibition catalog: The splendor of the Farnese - B. Jestaz: The Farnese Collection in Rome, p. 47
- ↑ Emile Zola: Rome, Volume I., Chapter 3, II
- ↑ Connaissance des Arts: p. 17
Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 40.7 " N , 12 ° 28 ′ 14.6" E