Sala Farnese / Farnese Hall (formerly "Royal")

This ceremonial hall with a Renaissance layout had a painted vaulted ceiling, which was demolished in the late 19th century and replaced with today's lacunar ceiling.

Since the mid-16th century, a marble statue of Pope Paul III Farnese was placed on the background wall, but it was removed during the Jacobin period.

In 1665 the Cardinal Farnese, from the same noble family, promoted the restoration of the adjoining chapel and the fresco cycles depicting the glorious times of the symbolic rule of the Papal States over the town.

The frescoes are due to a team of painters, led by Carlo Cignani, with Lorenzo Pasinelli, Luigi Scaramuccia, Girolamo Bonini, Giovanni Maria Bibiena.

The monument dedicated to Alexander VII, located in the adjoining Swiss Hall in 1660, was moved against the background wall during the 1845 restoration works.

The old technique of gilding with a metal foil over a wooden structure is due to a goldsmith from Siena, Dorastante d'Osio.

Text by Carla Bernardini and Gilberta Franzoni
(Musei Civici d'Arte Antica - www.comune.bologna.it/iperbole/MuseiCivici)