Palazzo Farnese, Piacenza

Palazzo Farnese is a palace in Piacenza, northern Italy.

History

This large partly constructed palace is located on the banks of the

).

The palace was commissioned by Ottavio's wife Margaret, daughter of Emperor Charles V. The new edifice was erected over a former fortress built by the Visconti in 1352, part of which can still be seen.

An initial design was made by

The building works were entrusted to Giovanni Bernardo Della Valle, Giovanni Lavezzari and Bernardo Panizzari (Caramosino). The actual construction, however, made up only less than a half of Vignola's original project and lacked many of the planned architectural features.

The original plan called for a massive rectangular palace with three main floors, three towers, two ceremonial staircases and two spiral ones, each floor was to have two residential complexes (one for Ottavio, another for Margaret) which included an oratory, a chapel, three state rooms, service rooms and a private loggia; and on top of that it included two main loggias on the southern facade, an open theatre on the internal courtyard and Italian gardens that were to reach the main city walls opposite the Po river.

Ultimately the planned building far overestimated the financial capacities of the duchy and of the Farnese family itself, being a far larger palace than those built by other Italian families and even French and Spanish royalty, and even though subsequent Farnese dukes tried to continue the construction, it was finally declared finished in 1602.

After the death of the last Farnese duke

in 1731, the palace fell into disrepair. Restoration began only in the early 20th century and today the Palazzo Farnese at Piacenza houses an important series of museums and exhibitions.

Ducal Chapel

The Ducal Chapel (Cappella Ducale or Cappella Grande) was used by the family for its religious rites. It is a hall on a square plan, turned into an octagon by the introduction of four apses at the corners. The sides have the same length as the chapel's height up to the hemispherical dome. The chapel is decorated with lilies from the Farnese coat of arms and Mannerist masks portraying angels. Other symbols referring to the Ducal family such as the unicorn, starfish, dolphins and turtles, appear in the large frieze.

Museums and exhibitions

• In the Archaeological Museum is the famous '
  haruspicy
  or divination by the reading of animals entrails.
• The Gallery or Pinacoteca is housed in the so-called "Duchess Apartments", on the first floor. It contains paintings from the 16th-17th centuries once belonging to the Dukes' collections, as well as painting from former religious houses and churches. The most important artwork is the Madonna with the Young St John, by
  Simone de’ Crocifissi, and Giovanni da Milano.^[2]
• The Fasti Farnesiani ("Farnese's Splendours") Exhibitions
• Museum of the Italian
  Risorgimento
• Museum of Ancient Weapons, with 400 antique weapons and armours collected by the Piacentine nobleman Antonio Parma
• Museum of Coaches
• State Archives
• Collections of sculptures, frescoes, majolica ware, glassworks, and
  epigraphs
  , with works from the 12th to the 17th centuries.

See also

• Palazzo Farnese, Rome
• Villa Farnese

References

External links

• Musei di Palazzo Farnese and Museo di Storia Naturale - official site (in Italian)

45°03′21″N 9°41′46″E / 45.0557°N 9.6961°E / 45.0557; 9.6961