Palazzo Mancini, Baroque palazzo on Via del Corso, Rome, Italy.
Palazzo Mancini is a baroque palazzo on Via del Corso 270/272 in Rome, with a facade marked by four columns framing the entrance portal, a long balcony on the upper floor, and rows of decorated windows. The building now functions as a bank branch, and the former interior courtyard has been converted into a banking hall.
Construction of the palazzo began in 1634, when Lorenzo Mancini commissioned a family residence following his marriage. Carlo Rainaldi completed the design between 1687 and 1689, giving the building the baroque form it still has today.
The building served as the seat of the French Academy in Rome from 1725 to 1793, where artists from France lived and worked. During that time, the interior was decorated with frescoes reproducing scenes from the Raphael Rooms of the Vatican, which can still be seen on the second floor.
The facade is easy to see from the street, as the building sits directly on Via del Corso, one of Rome's main central roads. The interior is accessible only during bank opening hours, so a look at the exterior is the most reliable way to visit.
The frescoes on the second floor, copied from the Raphael Rooms of the Vatican, were made by resident artists of the French Academy as part of their training. Copying masterworks was a standard method of learning at the time, making these rooms an unusual record of how artistic education worked in 18th-century Rome.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
