Palazzo Hercolani, Historic palace in Bologna, Italy.

Palazzo Hercolani is a large palace on Strada Maggiore in central Bologna, built by Angelo Venturoli from 1785 for Marquis Filippo Hercolani. The facade is restrained and classical, while the interior holds a monumental staircase with stucco statues of mythological subjects by Giacomo De Maria and a vault painted with the Glory of Hercules around 1799 by Filippo Pedrini and Davide Zanotti.

Built in 1793 by architect Angelo Venturoli for the noble Hercolani family, the palace replaced earlier structures belonging to the Muzza, Manzi, and Nascentori families.

The palace's name comes from the Hercolani family, whose member Filippo commissioned it. In the monumental staircase, stucco statues of mythological subjects by Giacomo De Maria stand beneath a vault painted around 1799 with the Glory of Hercules by Filippo Pedrini and Davide Zanotti. The ground-floor Sala Boschereccia, painted by Rodolfo Fantuzzi in 1810, faces the garden, and at its centre Astorre Hercolani placed Adamo Tadolini's Amore e Psiche, modelled on Canova's group.

The palace is the seat of the University of Bologna's Political Science Department, bought by the university in 1973 and restored in 1989–1992, with further work on the monumental staircase, the hall of honour and a Chinese-style room in 1995–1997. Visitors enter from Strada Maggiore in the historic centre; check the department's opening arrangements before going, as teaching spaces may be closed during lessons.

The ground floor houses the renowned 'Sala boschereccia' with painted forest scenes that create visual dialogue between the interior decoration and the exterior garden landscape.