The Palazzo Aldovrandi is a ''Senatorial'' palace on Via Galliera 8 in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, built in

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

style.

History

Replacing an older construction, the palace we see today began in 1725 under the patronage of the Cardinal

Pompeo Aldrovandi Pompeo Aldrovandi (23 September 1668 – 6 January 1752) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Aldrovandi was born on 23 September 1668 in Bologna, then part of the Papal States, and studied law at the local university ...

with plans commissioned from Franco Maria Angelini. After Angelini's death in 1731, the work, including the

facade, ornamented with Istrian marble, continued by 1741 under

Alfonso Torreggiani Alfonso Torreggiani (1682–1764) was an Italian architect of the Rococo period, principally associated with Bologna. Life Torregiani was born in Budrio. An apprentice of Giuseppe Antonio Torri, he became intensely active in the city of Bol ...

. He designed the palaces ornate and peculiar

windows with almost undulating arches superiorly. The palace lacks the typical porticos seen in older Bolognes palaces. One house over on Via Galliera 4, the Palazzo Torfanini has a

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

ground arcade, but a

piano nobile The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hou ...

refurbished with windows by the same architect Torreggiani. Further down the street on Via Galliera 10 is the church of

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

. The cardinal's once large art collection mainly made its way to the

National Gallery of London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...

. The library was dispersed by the middle of the 19th century. In the 19th century the Aldrovandi family had a majolica factory in a section of the palace. The interior contains the frescoes of Stefano Orlandi and

Vittorio Maria Bigari Vittorio Bigari (1692 – 1776) was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period. Biography He was born in Bologna in 1692. His main biographer was Zanotti. He was initially trained in the art of stucco and sculpture, a pupil of Antonio D ...

. The grand entry staircase is particularly notable. The palace changed hands in the 19th century to the Montanari family.Beni Culturali Emilia Romagna
entry by Licia Giannelli.

References

External links

{{Commons category Houses completed in the 18th century

Aldrovandi Aldrovandi is a family name of the Emilia-Romagna in Italy, and especially famous for the aristocratic and Senatorial family from Bologna. The Palazzo Aldrovandi in central Bologna was built by the family. Among its famous members are: *Cardinal Po ...

Baroque architecture in Bologna