Palazzo Donini is an Italian noble palace of the 18th century located in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

in Piazza Italia 96, it's the centre of the Regional Council of Region of Umbria.

Characteristics

Built from 1716 to 1724 by an unknown architect, the traditional attribution to

Pietro Carattoli Pietro Carattoli (1703 in Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Flore ...

it's not likely, because the artist from Perugia in 1716 was barely 13 years old. The references to sixteenth Tuscan style and coeval Roman palaces are evident. The architecture with a sober compositional order is scanned by two orders of ledges and three of windows. On the noble floor curved gables alternate with triangular ones in travertine. The palace is adorned with 2 large portals, one opens on Corso Vannucci, the other on Piazza Italia. Both present 2 columns in travertine surmounted by a balcony. The inside was richly decorated between 1745 and 1750 by the best exponents of the artistic culture of Perugia at the time, coordinated by Pietro Carattoli; among which: Francesco Appiani, Anton Maria Garbi, Giuseppe Brizi, Giacinto Boccanera and Nicola Giuli. Pietro Carattoli directed the works of wall decorations and decided the subject to represent. Very interesting is the main floor, with suggestive perspective shots and mythological subjects. In the Hall of honor, above the magnificent wooden gallery, Francesco Appiani painted “Giove fulminante il cocchio dell’Orgoglio” (Jupiter hitting with lightnings Pride's Chaise). Even the chapel of the palace is entirely decorated with stuccoes and paintings framed in illusionistic architectural perspective. Over the altar cell there is the “Incoronazione della Vergine”(Coronation of the Virgin) by Francesco Appiani. The “Sala del Caminetto”, decorated by Carattoli and Giacinto Boccanera, can be considered the most evocative as extreme example of the bold architectonical perspective present in the palace. In the 19th century it was sold by Pierluigi Donini to the City of Perugia that used it as representative seat; the Austrian Prince of

Klemens von Metternich Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar, Prince of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein ; german: Klemens Wenzel Nepomuk Lothar Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (15 May 1773 – 11 June 1859), known as Klemens von Metternich or Prince Metternic ...

with his chancellery was here received in 1819. Before hosting the Regional Council offices, the palace was the seat of the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the

University of Perugia University of Perugia (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. Th ...

. The permanent collection of Salvatore Fiume can here be seen;

Salvatore Fiume Salvatore Fiume (23 October 1915 – 3 June 1997) was an Italian painter, sculptor, architect, writer and stage designer. His works are kept in some of the most important museums in the world, among which the Vatican Museums, the Hermitage of ...

was a Sicilian artist who described episodes and characters of Umbria history. Bruno Buitoni, the owner of IBP Industries who commissioned the work, gave it as a gift to the Umbria Region. It is rather certain, from archival documents, that the palace stands on a pre-existent Roman cistern and a paleo Christian hypogeum, even if the recovered material got lost.

Notes

{{coord missing, Italy Palaces in Italy Buildings and structures in Perugia