Palazzo Chigi of Ariccia

The Palazzo Chigi of Ariccia is a Baroque ducal palace located in the historic center of Ariccia, a town in the Metropolitan City of Rome within the Castelli Romani area of Italy. Originally a 15th-century residence of the Savelli family, the palace was entirely rebuilt between 1664 and 1672 for the Chigi family, with architectural collaboration between Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his pupil Carlo Fontana. Ceded to the Commune of Ariccia in 1988 by Prince Agostino Chigi Albani della Rovere, the palace now serves as a public cultural venue, hosting exhibitions and events, and houses the Museo del Barocco Romano. Its significance lies in its exceptional Baroque interiors, its preserved original furnishings, and its role as a focal point of Bernini's urban design for Piazza di Corte.

The site was first developed by the Savelli family, lords of Ariccia from 1423 to 1661, who constructed a new ducal residence toward the end of the 16th century under Duke Camillo Savelli. Documents from 1608 and 1611 reference this palatial structure. On 20 July 1661, Cardinal Flavio Chigi and Princes Mario and Agostino Chigi acquired the fief of Ariccia from Prince Giulio Savelli for 358,000 scudi. The following year, in 1664, they commissioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini to redesign the urban fabric, including the Collegiata, Piazza di Corte, and the new palace. Carlo Fontana executed the architectural plans, and construction was completed in 1672. The Chigi expanded the existing park to 28 hectares, adding paths, fountains, and structures under Fontana's direction and Bernini's supervision. In 1740, Prince Augusto Chigi added the Torrione Nuovo, a symmetrical wing adjacent to what is now the Ponte di Ariccia, at a cost of 40,000 scudi. The palace suffered during the Roman Republic of 1798-1799 and again in World War II, when Allied troops were stationed there and an air raid on 2 June 1944 damaged neoclassical frescoes in two rooms of the piano nobile. In 1962, Luchino Visconti filmed portions of Il Gattopardo at the palace, including the dialogue scene between Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon. On 29 December 1988, Agostino Chigi Albani della Rovere sold the palace and park to the Commune of Ariccia with specific conditions. Francesco Petrucci has served as conservator since 1998. In 2007, the Museo del Barocco Romano was inaugurated within the palace.

The palace preserves its largely original 17th-century furnishings and contains significant holdings of paintings, sculptures, and Baroque decorative arts from the Chigi family collections. These include works by major Roman Baroque painters such as Cavalier d'Arpino, Giovanni Battista Gaulli (Il Baciccio), Pier Francesco Mola, Mario de' Fiori, Salvator Rosa, and Michele Pace del Campidoglio. The decorative arts feature leather wall hangings and console tables attributed Bernini. The palace also contains 17th-century and neoclassical frescoes by artists including Pietro Mulier, Giuseppe Cades, Nicola la Piccola, Liborio Coccetti, and Annibale Angelini. The Museo del Barocco Romano, established in 2007, augments these historic holdings with important acquisitions from the 17th and 18th centuries, including the Collezione Fagiolo (from art historian Maurizio Fagiolo), the Collezione Lemme (a significant painting collection donated by attorneys Fabrizio Lemme and Fiammetta Luly and their children Professor Giuliano Lemme and Ilaria Lemme), and additional collections from the Laschena and Ferrari families. The palace also contains the Biblioteca Chigi and art history libraries donated by collector Beatrice Chiovenda Canestro, by Deoclecio Redig De Campos (former director of the Vatican Museums), and other donors.

Among the most significant works in the palace are the Four Seasons by Mario de' Fiori in collaboration with Carlo Maratti, Bernardino Mei, Giacinto Brandi, Giovanni Maria Morandi, and Filippo Lauri. Pier Francesco Mola's Allegory of the Senses and preparatory cartoons by Cavalier d'Arpino for the mosaics of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica are also held here. The collection includes Michelangelo Pace's Feudi Chigi con cani levrieri, and faux tapestries commissioned by Cardinal Ottoboni from Domenico Paradisi, Michelangelo Ricciolini, and Francesco Borgognone for the Palazzo della Cancelleria, as well as Giovanni Battista Magni il Modanino's Finti arazzi con giochi di putti. Landscape paintings include works by Jos de Momper, Tempestino, and Egidio de Monte, and a marine landscape with Saint Augustine by Jos de Momper and Alessandro Mattia da Farnese. Salvator Rosa's Pindar and Pan and Giovanni Battista Gaulli's Blessed Giovanni Chigi in Penitence are notable religious and mythological works. The portrait collection is particularly strong, with multiple works by Jacob Ferdinand Voet including portraits of Cardinal Flavio Chigi, Sister Maria Lutugarda, Sister Flavia Virginia, Agostino Chigi, and Maria Virginia Borghese. Other portraits include Giovanni Maria Morandi's depictions of Maria Virginia Borghese and Mario Chigi, Francesco Vanni's portrait of the Venerable Aurelio Chigi, Carlo Cesi's portrait of Cardinal Fabio Chigi, and Francesco Trevisani's portrait of Suor Berenice. Anna Caffarelli Minutoli's Serie delle Belle and works by Loreti, Guttembrun, Masucci, and Kobler round out the holdings.

The palace presents a sober exterior that belies its richly decorated interiors, a characteristic Baroque contrast. It forms the scenic backdrop to the monumental Piazza di Corte, which Bernini designed as an integrated urban space. The 28-hectare Parco Chigi extends behind the palace and contains Roman spolia and remains of buildings associated with its former use as a hunting preserve. The 1740 addition of the Torrione Nuovo by Prince Augusto Chigi created a symmetrical composition with the older wing, positioned adjacent to the Ponte di Ariccia. The palace's neoclassical interiors, damaged in the 1944 air raid, complemented its Baroque and 17th-century rooms.