Built between the 13th and the 14th century, the palace with cardinal Niccolò Ridolfi became important to renaissance art with the decorative fresco cycles painted from 1532 to 1550.
Info: Associazione Amici di Bagnaia “Arte e Storia ” Tel. 3384613485
PALAZZO DUCALE OR OF THE LOGGES
THE HISTORY
From the thirteenth century, the development of the palazzo followed the fate of the castle of Bagnaia, pertaining to the properties of the bishop of Viterbo. It was donated by Viterbo to their Bishop and rebuilt after the presumed reconstruction of Castrum Balnearie, between the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Bagnaia Community gave the palazzo to the Cardinal Raffaele Sansoni Galeotti Riario (1498-1523). At his death, it was passed on to Cardinal Niccolò Ridolfi, who allowed for the urban development of Bagnaia, leaving ample space to expand the Palazzo. A proper restoration was started in 1546, with great work done to decorative frescoes enriched with stucco and grottesche. The Palazzo Ducale, or of the Logge, was so named because of the two loggias it had, one still in existence open in the west in the direction of Viterbo, and the other open towards the internal piazza of the Borgo, now closed.
Between 1552 and 1567, Fabiano del Monte assumed ownership of the palazzo. During this phase, a belvedere room was added at the outside of the wall, facing the Barco. It was his successor, Cardinal Gambara, from 1568 to 1587, who continued the work of expanding the belvedere zone, transforming the palazzo into how it is seen today. From 1568, the palazzo began to be used as a guesthouse of the villa built outside the borgo, and work continued until after 1687 when it was leased to the Lante family for three generations. The new owners did not produce any significant work to the property. From the death of Duca Federico Lante in 1772 (from who the name Palazzo Ducale comes), until the after World War II, little change occurred. Between 1945 and 1947, the Lante della Rovere family sold parcels of the land of the palazzo to private citizens, creating the dismemberment and division of the original unit. The fragmentation of the internal rooms drastically changed the original arrangements, however it maintained a consistent, unified exterior as created in the sixteenth century. Through a research carried out between 2003 by Anna Battellocchi, we give a comprehensive view of the monument.
THE EXTERIOR
The palazzo is situated at the head of the borgo of Bagnaia, straddling the city walls. It appears outside the walls on Viale Fiume and on valle di Pian del Cerro, and inside the walls in Piazza Castello. The facade inside the borgo is characterized by the portal on which the emblem of Lante della Rovere appears in the center, and on which the coat of arms of the Medici/Ridolfi appears on the sides. Outside the walls, on the west side is the loggia.
THE LOGGIA
Four tuscanico columns made of peperino stone articulate the imposing architectural prospect of the loggia. On the walls is decoration of the sixteenth century with grottesche and faux architecture. On the bottom of the walls are six painted tuscanico columns, and in the area between the columns are views of five cities: Florence, Siena, Rome, Bagnaia and Naples.
INTERIOR
Currently, a single visit of the internal rooms of the palazzo is nearly impossible. The division of palazzo into the two private apartments only allows for the viewing the separate apartments at different times.
WEST SIDE APARTMENT
Present here are the rooms that hosted Popes through the course of history. The rooms are organized in succession and are named in agreement with the Papal coat of arms present: the Gregorio XIII room; the Paolo III room; the Pio IV room; the Pio V room (referring to the decorative phase of the Gambara period (1568-1587), presumably done by the school of Raffaellino da Reggio, between 1574 and 1578 (Giovan Battista Lombardelli: Jacopo Sementa; Paris Nogari)); and lastly, the Del Monte room.
LOGGIA APARTMENT
Two rooms characterize the west side of the palazzo. A great atrium hallway is characterized by a fregio that runs along the three walls, decorated with stories of ancestors. The room named for the cardinal, with the history of Giuseppe, referring the decorative phase of the Gambara period.
In reference to the decorative periods, it is impossible to name the authorship with certainty. Many were attributed to artists more or less famous: from Zoroastro (the famous apprentice of Leonardo) to Anionio Tempesta; from the Zuccari brothers to Raffaelino da Reggio. For those wish to visit the loggia by appointment and reservation, it is possible to contact the Associazione Amici di Bagnaia, Arte e Storia.
ESSENTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
S. ALBANESE; Tecnica e restauri dei dipinti dell’Oratorio del Gonfalone. Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A.A. 2002/2003.
A. BATTELLOCCHI; Il palazzo della loggia di Bagnaia. Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A.A. 2002/2003.
S. BRESCIA; Il Lavatoio di Via degli Orti è un monumento storico, in La Loggeta, I, 2014 Viterbo. Pag. 142.
F. BUSSI; Istoria della città di Viterbo, Roma 1742.
A. CARONES; Memorie Istoriche della terra di Bagnaia. Raccolte dal sacerdote Arcangelo Carones. manoscritto pubblicato a cura dell’Associazione Amici di Bagnaia Arte e Storia. Viterbo 1983.
A. CAROSI; Le epigrafi medievali di Viterbo, Viterbo 1986.
L. DELLA ROCCA, Gli Affreschi della chiesa di S. Stefano a Bagnaia e la società delle disciplinatrici nel tardo medioevo. Viterbo, 2002.
L. DELLA ROCCA, Gli Affreschi della chiesa di S. Stefano a Bagnaia e la società delle disciplinatrici nel tardo medioevo. in Biblioteca e Società, II. Viterbo, 2002.
O. EGIDI; Castel di Salce, in DE MINICIS (a cura di), Insediamenti rupestri medievali della Tuscia, Roma 2003, p. 102.
I. FALDI; Pittori Viterbesi di cinque secoli. Roma, 1970.
G. FERRO; Le mura medievali di Vitorchiano, in GUIDONI E., DE MINICIS, E., (a cura di),
Le mura medievali del Lazio. Studi sull’area viterbese, Roma 1993, pp. 61-75,
F. FOPPOLI; Le mura medievali di Barbarano Romano, in GUIDONI, E., DE MINICIS, E., (a cura di).
Le mura medievali del Lazio. Studi sull’area viterbese, Roma 1993, pp. 76-85.
F. FOPPOLI; VISINO S., Case con portico di Barbarano Romano, in GUIDONI
E., DE MINICIS E. (a cura di) Case e torri medievali I, Roma 1996, pp. 179-185.
V. FRITTELLI; Bagnaia. “Cronache d’una terra del Patrimonio”, Viterbo 1977.
I. GIORGI, U. BALZANI (a cura di), Il regesto di Farfa di Gregorio di Catino, Roma 1879-1914.
S. GRAZZIOTTI; Bagnaia, frammenti di storia in La Loggetta, 88, lugl – sett 2011. Pag. 70
A. LANCONELLI; Dal castrum alla civitas: il territorio viterbese tra VIII e XI secolo, in “Società e storia”, 56 (1992), pp. 245-266.
J. LE GOFF; L’immaginario medievale, Bari 1998.
M. MARTORELLA; Liber Statutorum Balnearie 1565. A cura di. Viterbo 2012.
C. PINZI; Gli ospizi medievali e l’Ospedal Grande di Viterbo, Viterbo 1983.
C. PINZI; Storia della città di Viterbo, Roma 1913.
C. PINZI; Il castello e la villa di Bagnaia, Viterbo 1908.
C. PINZI; Storia della città di Viterbo, Roma 1913,
G. SERONE. Le mura medievali di Bagnaia. Analisi diacronica di un manufatto architettonico, in Il Tesoro delle città Strenna dell’Associazione storia delle città. 2007. PP. .473 – 491.
G. SIGNORELLI; Viterbo nella storia della Chiesa, Viterbo 1907.
C. SCIVOLA, L’amministrazione del patrimonio della Confraternita del Gonfalone di Bagnaia; Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A.A. 2003/2004.
C. SCIVOLA, La confraternita del Gonfalone di Bagnaia; Tesi di Laurea dell’università degli studi della Tuscia, Viterbo A.A. 2002/2003.
Fonti
I. CIAMPI, Cronache e statuti della città di Viterbo, Firenze 1872, pp. 417-418;
A. ROSSI, Spogli vaticani, in Giornale di e
rudizione artistica, VI (1877), pp. 204 s.;
C. PINZI, Memorie e documenti inediti sulla Basilica di S. Maria della Quercia a Viterbo, in Arch. stor. dell’arte, III (1890), pp. 300-305 con App. di documenti; Id., Gli Ospizi medioevali e l’Ospedale Grande di Viterbo, Viterbo 1893, p. 134 e documenti XXII, XXIII in App.
G. SIGNORELLI, Viterbo nella storia della Chiesa, Viterbo 1938, II, I, pp. 224 s., 237, 265, 273; 2, p. 395.
