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| Palazzo Pamphilj | |
|---|---|
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| General information | |
| Location | Rome, Italy |
| Coordinates | 41°53′54″N12°28′22″E / 41.89833°N 12.47278°E /41.89833; 12.47278 |
| Construction started | 1644 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Girolamo Rainaldi |
Palazzo Pamphilj, also spelledPalazzo Pamphili, is a palace facing onto thePiazza Navona inRome, Italy. It was built between 1644 and 1650.[citation needed]
Since 1920, the palace has housed theBrazilian Embassy in Italy. In October 1960, it became the property of theFederative Republic of Brazil[1] in a purchase negotiation led by Ambassador Hugo Gouthier de Oliveira Gondim.[2] The roof terrace is open to the public, with a renowned restaurant and bar that showcases the Roman skyline, and frequent concerts, often featuring Italian opera.
In 1644,Cardinal Giambattista Pamphilj of the powerfulPamphilj family, who already owned a palace between the Piazza Navona and the Via Pasquino, becamePope Innocent X. With this election came the desire for a larger more magnificent building to reflect his family's increased prestige. Further land was bought, the architectGirolamo Rainaldi received the commission and construction began in 1646.[citation needed] The new project was to incorporate some existing buildings, including the former palace of the Pamphilj (whose decoration byAgostino Tassi was partially preserved) and the Palazzo Cibo. The building work was overseen and managed byPope Innocent X:s sister-in-law,Olimpia Maidalchini. While the Pope had his apartment facing thePiazza Navona, Olimpia had her apartment on the opposite side facing the Piazza di Pasquino - both with a direct connection to the huge gallery going through the whole width of the building.[citation needed]
In 1647, the Baroque architect Francesco Borromini was consulted about the design and he made a series of new proposals for the palace. However, the prevailing preference was for Rainaldi's more staid and conservative design. Borromini's limited contributions included the stucco decoration of the salone (the main room) and design of the Gallery, located at first floor level between the rest of the palace and the church of St. Agnese next door. The Gallery extends through the width of the block with a large Serliana window at either end.[citation needed]
Between 1651 and 1654, the painterPietro da Cortona was commissioned to decorate the Gallery vault. His secular fresco cycle depicts scenes from the life ofAeneas, the legendary founder of Rome, as recounted byVirgil. The Pamphili claim to be descended from Aeneas. Unlike the large spacious volume of the Palazzo Barberini in which he had painted his fresco celebrating the reign of Innocent's predecessor,Urban VIII Barberini, the Pamphilj Gallery was long with a low vault which meant that a single viewpoint to see the frescoes was not possible. So Cortona devised a series of scenes around a central painted framed ‘Apotheosis of Aeneas’ into the Olympian heavens. The elaborate doorframes regularly spaced along the longer walls of the Gallery display a combination of motifs typically used by Borromini and by Cortona[3]
The plan has three courtyards. The rooms on thepiano nobile (the first floor) have frescoes and friezes by artists such asGiacinto Gimignani,Gaspard Dughet,Andrea Camassei,Giacinto Brandi,Francesco Allegrini, andPier Francesco Mola.[citation needed]
Carlo Rainaldi, the son of Girolamo, completed the building around 1650.[citation needed]
The newpalazzo was also the home ofInnocent's widowed sister-in-lawOlimpia Maidalchini, who was his confidante and advisor and, more scurrilously, reputed to be hismistress.[citation needed] She was the mother ofCamillo Pamphilj, the one timecardinal, who through his marriage came into the possession of the Palazzo Aldobrandini, now known as thePalazzo Doria Pamphilj.[citation needed]
Confusingly, until the unification of theDoria and Pamphilj surnames both palazzi were known as Palazzo Pamphilj, or in the case of today's Doria Pamphilj sometimes "Palazzo Pamfilio". Both spellings Pamphilj and Pamphili are in commonItalian usage, even though the family prefers Pamphilj.[citation needed]
Leonie Stephanie.The Palazzo Pamphilj in Piazza Navona: Constructing Identity In Early Modern Rome (Studies in Baroque Art), 2008, Harvey Miller.Magnuson Torgil.Rome in the Age of Bernini, volume II, Almquist & Wiksell, Stockholm, 1986, Chapter 1 Innocent X (1644-1655)
Media related toPalazzo Pamphilj (Rome) at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceded by Quirinal Palace | Landmarks of Rome Palazzo Pamphilj | Succeeded by Palazzo Poli |
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