Palazzo Rosso (Genoa)

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Palazzo Rosso
Dürer: Portrait of a young man against a green background

The Palazzo Rosso is a palace in the Italian city ​​of Genoa . He is one of the world heritage of UNESCO counting Palazzi dei Rolli of the so-called Strade Nuove in the old town of the Ligurian capital.

One of the most important art galleries in the city is located in its interiors. Together with the nearby Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria Tursi , the Pinakothek forms a museum agglomerate along Via Garibaldi .

history

“The first palace I saw was the Palazzo Rosso; red facade, marble staircase. The statues are not of the size of the other palaces, but the maintenance, the mosaic of the corridors and, above all, the paintings make it one of the richest of Genoa "
So wrote ( freely translated ) Gustave Flaubert in his travel 1,845th

The contract to build the palace was given in 1671 by Rodolfo and Giovanni Francesco Brignole Sale to the architect Pietro Antonio Corradi (1613–1683). After the building was completed, the palace remained in the hands of the Brignole Sale family until 1874. The last representative of this important Genoese family and heiress of the palace, Maria Brignole Sale De Ferrari , Duchess of Galliera, gave it to the municipality to enhance the adornment of the city and certainly to leave a mark of the size of her family. With the building, the city was also given a valuable art collection, which today forms the core of the museum's holdings.

The first artistic decoration work on the palace was carried out in 1679 by Domenico Piola and Gregorio De Ferrari in collaboration with other painters and plasterers . The result was the salon with its fresco paintings, which were destroyed in an air raid in World War II, and four halls based on the theme of the four seasons.

In 1691 further decoration work was carried out with the frescoes by Gio Andrea Carlone, Carlo Antonio Tavella and Bartolomeo Guidobono. The work continued until the second half of the 19th century.

The art gallery

In addition to the palace itself, the Countess of Galliera bequeathed her excellent collection of paintings to the municipality of Genoa in 1874, which forms the historical core of the museum's holdings. The works had been carefully selected and acquired for over two decades and were intended to demonstrate the social and political advancement of the Brignole Sale family.

Gio Francesco Brignole followed up on his first acquisitions in the first half of the 16th century with the purchase of some works by Van Dyck . The following heirs to the palace and the collection, starting with Maria Durazzo, continued this policy of expanding the art collection.

Today the gallery stands out due to the high proportion of Flemish artists, as well as the works of Guido Reni , Il Guercino , Mattia Preti and Bernardo Strozzi . Also worth mentioning are the panels and paintings from the Venetian environment of the 16th century, such as those of Palma the Elder and Il Veronese .

In the years from 1953 to 1961, extensive restorations were carried out on the museum structure, which more than doubled the exhibition area. In this context, "alien" collections were also integrated into the existing premises, including a ceramic and coin collection.

Moreover, in the work of a storage facility for textile objects, as well as an exhibition space for posters and the cartographic collection at the intermediate level between the first and second main floor is realized.

Important works in the art gallery

gallery

  • Guido Reni - San Sebastiano

  • Anthony van Dyck - Anton Giulio Brignole-Sale

  • Paolo Caliari - Judith and Holofernes

Web links

Commons : Palazzo Rosso (Genoa)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 44 ° 24 ′ 40.3 "  N , 8 ° 55 ′ 56.1"  E