VISCONTINI PALACE

THE HISTORY

The building was commissioned by Monsignor Antonio Viscontini, who entrusted the project to the architects Ippolito Scalza of Orvieto and Taurello Taurelli Salimbeni of Acquapendente. The works for the construction of the building, commissioned in 1581, proceeded quite quickly at least for the body of the building, given the date MDLXXXII (1582) engraved on one of the bases of the facade. The building had certainly been completed when Viscontini returned from France on June 28, 1588. On the death of the prelate, which occurred in February 1591 while the reception of the Papal Court was taking place in the palace on the occasion of the visit of Count Ettore Sfondrati, the palace was inherited by her niece Egidia. Subsequently it passed to the Benci family, to whom it remained for the whole seventeenth century, and from these to the Cerri family. Today the building is private property.

DESCRIPTION

The plan of the building, which is built on a U-shaped scheme, develops around four minor courtyards and the central courtyard closed on three sides and open along the fourth onto the garden. Above the portico that opens onto the courtyard, there is the loggia of the noble floor, supported by rectangular pillars. The staircase with two flights, now used to climb to the loggia from the courtyard, was built in the twentieth century and is the only substantial intervention carried out on the building in the centuries following its foundation. Originally, the entrance to the loggia took place through the staircase located in the portico of the courtyard. In part of the portico some frescoes are still visible, in which the three-snake coat of arms of the Viscontini appears.

On the central façade, the plasticity of the decorations decreases from the bottom up, creating a contrast between the chiaroscuro of the ashlars of the portals on the ground floor, the balcony and gables of the noble floor and the smooth and luminous surface of the top floor crowned by a cornice. The ground floor, enriched by benches, which have a purely decorative purpose, on which the ashlar of the portals rest, is particular compared to the other works previously carried out by the architect Scalza because the windows are replaced by rectangular doors, all decorated with ashlar pillow. These entrances allowed access to the sheds, in which the carriages and horses of the Viscontini’s guests were housed and which were directly connected to the internal courtyard of the palace. Famous people entered from the central door, through which an entrance hall led to the portico of the courtyard and from here to the main floor, where the guest rooms were located. For the accommodation of their entourage, Viscontini provided for the purchase of a series of neighboring houses, so as not to make the space inside the building too narrow.

The central arched portal is decorated with pillow-like bosses. On the arch of the ashlars two corbels with triglyphs overlap from which the pine cones hang. The elongated windows on the main floor give the entire structure a strong momentum in contrast with the heavy balcony. The top floor is lower than the first, emerging equally from the surrounding terraced houses due to its greater height. The facade ends with a cornice decorated with carved shelves and continuous decorative motifs, such as lilies, roses, stars, wheels and lozenges. In the center appear the coats of arms of Viscontini and those of his protectors, the Farnese and Lorraine families, also present inside the building.

The side facades, with four windows per floor, are less decorated and more linear, thus covering the framing function of the central facade.

The rooms on the ground floor have a constant size of about five meters, the same as that maintained in the side rooms of the noble floor and in stark contrast to the irregular trapezoidal plan of the central hall. This is accessed from the external loggia: thanks to its double height, the huge room takes its light from the three windows on the main floor and from the squares on the top floor. In it stands a huge fireplace, designed by Scalza himself, decorated by two corbels which, by means of triglyphs, support a molded frame with stucco decoration. The ceiling of the hall has unfortunately been lost, while the frescoes of the two rooms that overlook the front of the building are preserved. They represent scenes from the Old Testament, framed by “grotesque” decorations with plant motifs, geometric figures, animals and human figures. The remaining decorations of the internal doors of the building do not reflect the style of Scalza and it could therefore be assumed that it was attributed to Taurelli.

The kitchens and servants’ quarters were located on the top floor, which was accessed via a spiral staircase located in the entrance hall.

ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

AA.VV. Acquapendente e il suo territorio. Regione Lazio, Assessorato alla Cultura, Spettacolo, Sport e Turismo. Direzione regionale cultura, sport e turismo, area valorizzazione del territorio e del patrimonio culturale. Avellino 2004.

Lise G., Acquapendente. Storia. Arte. Figure. Tradizioni, Acquapendente 1971.

Una Guida per Acquapendente a cura del Comune di Acquapendente e della sezione locale dell’Archeoclub d’Italia, Acquapendente 1993.

Chiovelli R., Nicola Pioli, Ippolito Scalza e il Palazzo Viscontini in Acquapendente in Biblioteca e Società.