Descrizione
Storia dell’arte [154] Nuova Serie 2 | Luglio – Dicembre 2020
Fabio Benzi
Il Palazzo Cisterna (già Tancredi) in via Giulia. Una vicenda architettonica e culturale del primo Cinquecento
Palazzo Cisterna (formerly Tancredi) in via Giulia was the result of a noble and cultivated humanistic patronage, linked to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, who was probably involved in the actual design of the building. Thanks to newly discovered documents and evidence, the palace cannot be considered a late sixteenth- century building (as it used to be), but a remarkable architectural work dating to immediately after the Sack of Rome. It was built by a member of the Roman Vitruvian Academy and the Accademia della Nuova Poesia founded by Claudio Tolomei, namely, Francesco Tancredi. He was involved in the humanistic circle of the Medici and Farnese families, and connected with the most important poets and artists of the time (Annibal Caro, Pietro Aretino, Guglielmo della Porta, Giorgio Vasari etc.). This historical background brings to the fore the new conceptions informing mid-sixteenth century Roman architecture, and various associated details, to be found in the former palace of Annibal Caro, decorated by a fresco (painted by an artist close to Raffaellino da Reggio) representing the Parnassus with the poet himself and also Virgil.
