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Farnese Palace in Rome Italy

Cardinal Alessandro Farnese had planned to erect the family palace, given to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger since 1513, on land acquired in 1495. The election of the client who became pope with the name of Paul III in 1534, caused the architect to make some modifications "appearing to him to have to do more with the palace of a pontiff than a cardinal." The rear of the splendid residence was completed by Vignola and later by Giacomo Della Porta and then enriched by cardinal Odoardo Farnese with frescoes by Agostino and Annibale Carracci in the ceiling of the Gallery, a true milestone for the Roman baroque style. In 1731, on the death of the last male descendant, the important works of art inherited by Charles of Bourbon were moved to Naples. The palace, given to Grance in 1874, is still today home of the Embassy to the Italian State.

Michelangelo took over on the death of Sangallo (1546), and completed the Farnese building, finishing the main floor and part of the internal courtyard, probably joined to the second order. The substantial modification to the main elevation is due to him, with the transformation of the original central window to the present one crowned by "a caot of arms of pope Paul the third: big, beautiful and of different marbles", it was later flanked by two other smaller coats of arms. The addition of the massive cornice, decorated with the Farnese lilies would be decisive - according to the plan presented in the spring of 1547, bitterly criticised by the followers of Sangallo - after the suitable corrections made adding to the façade, which a recent restoration has returned it to its ancient glory.

In the courtyard, the influence of Michelangelo, who was replaced after the death of the pontiff by Vignola, can be seen in the refined frieze with garlands which completes the main floor and in the personal interpretation of the classic language of the upper floor, lined with Corinthian columns.

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