Palazzo Farrattini (1520-5)

Image courtesy of Signor Ettore Farrattini Pojani

Bishop Bartolomeo II Farrattini commissioned Antonio da Sangallo the Younger  to design this palace.  (He also commissioned the family's funerary chapel in the Duomo: see that page for more on the Farrattini family).   Giorgio Vasari described the palace as "a beautiful and imposing work whereby Antonio [da Sangallo] acquired no little fame and profit".   Sangallo's orignal floor plan survives in the Uffizi, Florence, although the design was simplified before construction.

The palace was built on the site of the Roman baths (2nd century BC), most of which disappeared when it was built, although two black and white mosaic floors (2nd century AD) survive inside, some 4 meters below the present pavement level.  These are connected to the subterranean cistern that is now on the opposite side of the road.

Bartolomeo II Farrattini was a member of the Roman Curia at the time that he commissioned the palace.  It is a scaled-down version of Sangallo's more famous Palazzo Farnese in Rome, which he had built for Cardinal Farnese.  It must have made an enormous impression on Farrattini's more provincial neighbours when it was completed. 

The informative website for Palazzo Farrattini, which now offers accommodation, is at www.palazzofarrattini.it .

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