Palazzo Zuccari, also called Palazzetto Zuccheri, is a 16th-century residence, located at the crossroads of via Sistina and via Gregoriana, with a

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

16th-century facades on the latter street and a late

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

facade on the piazza

Trinità dei Monti The church of the Santissima Trinità dei Monti, often called merely the Trinità dei Monti ( French: ''La Trinité-des-Monts''), is a Roman Catholic late Renaissance titular church in Rome, central Italy. It is best known for its position above ...

in the

Campo Marzio Campo Marzio is the 4th ''rione'' of Rome, identified by the initials R. IV. It belongs to the Municipio I and covers a smaller section of the area of the ancient ''Campus Martius''. The logo of this rione is a silver crescent on a blue backgroun ...

neighborhood of Rome, Italy. Designed by

Federico Zuccari Federico Zuccaro, also known as Federico Zuccari (c. 1540/1541August 6, 1609), was an Italian Mannerist painter and architect, active both in Italy and abroad. Biography Zuccaro was born at Sant'Angelo in Vado, near Urbino (Marche). His docum ...

, the house is known locally as the "House of Monsters" for the decorations on its doors and windows overlooking the via Gregoriana.

History

The artist

worked in Rome and Florence (where he designed frescoes for the

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...

and made a name for himself as an artist. Called back to Urbe for a series of commissions, he decided to create a sumptuous mansion that displayed his importance and skill. The project would be more grandiose than his previous work in Florence, the Palazzo Zuccari. In 1590, Zuccari bought a plot of land near the

, and its remains of the

Gardens of Lucullus The Gardens of Lucullus ( lat, Horti Lucullani) were the setting for an ancient villa on the Pincian Hill on the edge of Rome; they were laid out by Lucius Licinius Lucullus about 60 BC. The Villa Borghese gardens still cover of green on the sit ...

. He then began to construct his artist house. In the end, the grand project would almost ruin him and required a smaller scope. At Zuccari's death in 1609, he left the house to the artists of the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

Girolamo Rainaldi Girolamo Rainaldi (4 May 1570 – 15 July 1655) was an Italian architect who worked mainly in a conservative Mannerist style, often with collaborating architects. He was a successful competitor of Bernini. His son, Carlo Rainaldi, became an even ...

then took over work on the complex and gave it the look it would maintain until 1904, when the house was renovated. The Zuccari family reacquired the palazzo and held it until the last descendant of the dynasty, the lawyer Federico Zuccari, decided to sell it to Henrichetta Hertz in the 18th century. From 1702, the palazzo housed the widowed and exiled Queen of Poland,

Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien (Polish: Maria Kazimiera Ludwika d’Arquien), known also by the diminutive form "Marysieńka" (28 June 1641 – 30 January 1716) was a French noblewoman who became the queen consort of Poland and gran ...

. She funded the construction of a wooden arch over the via Sistina and the facade with a balcony facing the square. At her direction,

Filippo Juvarra Filippo is an Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English name Philip, from the Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Philip" Retrieved on 23 January 2016. The female variant is Filip ...

painted the Polish coat of arms on the facade. She also established a small private theater from 1704 to 1714, which presented music to the Roman nobility by the queen's court musician

Domenico Scarlatti Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti, also known as Domingo or Doménico Scarlatti (26 October 1685-23 July 1757), was an Italian composer. He is classified primarily as a Baroque composer chronologically, although his music was influential in the deve ...

. In 1756, the palazzo became a center for the Christian teaching organization, the

De La Salle Brothers french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes , image = Signum Fidei.jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = , abbreviation = FSC , nickname = Lasallians , named_after = , formation ...

, which had previously been housed at the

. This use is documented in an engraving by

Giuseppe Pinelli Giuseppe "Pino" Pinelli (21 October 1928 – 15 December 1969) was an Italian railroad worker and anarchist, who died while being detained by Italian police in 1969. Pinelli was a member of the Milan-based anarchist association named Ponte ...

of children leaving the school, accompanied by two brothers of the order. During the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

, the palazzo was a visiting spot for artists and scholars like

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and founding he ...

Jacques-Louis David Jacques-Louis David (; 30 August 1748 – 29 December 1825) was a French painter in the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. In the 1780s, his cerebral brand of history painting marked a change in ...

, and painters of the

Nazarene movement The epithet Nazarene was adopted by a group of early 19th-century German Romantic painters who aimed to revive spirituality in art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of a biblical manner of c ...

. It then became the property of Enrichetta Hertz, who gifted the building in turn to the German government. Since 1912, the palazzo has been home to the

Bibliotheca Hertziana Bibliotheca may refer to: * ''Bibliotheca'' (Pseudo-Apollodorus), a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends * '' Bibliotheca historica'', a first century BC work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus * ''Bibliotheca'' ...

.Bibliotheca Hertziana
History of the Institute
In 2000, the restoration of the palazzo's structure and decoration was undertaken by the architect Enrico Da Gai at the direction of the

Max Planck Society The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (german: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften e. V.; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. ...

, which runs the building's library.

Architecture

The Via Gregoriana facade and much of the structure were built starting in 1590 by Zuccari, who frescoed the ground floor.

made later modifications, like the Trinità dei Monti facade. The palazzo is known for the odd decorations on its cornicing and windows, which look like monstrous open mouths inspired by the

Gardens of Bomarzo The Sacro Bosco ("Sacred Grove"), colloquially called Park of the Monsters (Parco dei Mostri in Italian), also named Garden of Bomarzo, is a Mannerism, Mannerist monumental complex located in Bomarzo, in the province of Viterbo, in northern Lazio, ...

and

Mannerist architecture Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

. The three mascaron looking out on the via Gregoriana are a major attraction of the palazzo. Zuccari had used similar designs in his illustrations of the gate to hell in Dante's ''

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

''.

The palazzo was initially designed in three parts: a studio on the Piazza Trinità dei Monti, the residence facing via Sistina, and the garden with an entrance from via Gregoriana. In contrast with the simplicity of its external appearance, the interior contains illustrious art. The maximum decoration occurs in the staircase, salon, gallery, and garden. The family coat of arms are visible in the fresco of the building's Doric

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and alternated with comets, an element that reflects the coat of arms. The interior also contains frescoes by

Giulio Romano Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-centu ...

that are modeled after those of the

Villa Lante al Gianicolo Villa Lante al Gianicolo is a villa in Rome on the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo). It is a summer house designed by Giulio Romano in 1520-21 for Baldassare Turini, as one of Romano's first independent commissions after the death of his master Raph ...

. Outside, the garden of the building is rectangular in shape, around 17 meters on each side.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Zuccari Mannerist architecture in Italy Rome R. IV Campo Marzio