Palazzo Malvezzi Campeggi, Bologna, Renaissance palazzo in central Bologna, Italy.
Palazzo Malvezzi Campeggi is a Renaissance palace on Via Zamboni 22, at the corner with Via Marsala, facing San Giacomo Maggiore. Its inner courtyard has three superimposed orders of columns — Doric, Ionic and Corinthian — with medallions of Roman emperors, and leads to the small Hercules courtyard, named for Giuseppe Maria Mazza's large statue of Hercules visible from the entrance. The palace now houses the University of Bologna's law faculty.
Construction began in the mid-16th century on an older structure that had belonged to Giovanni II Bentivoglio. The architects were Andrea Marchesi, called Il Formigine, and his brother Giacomo. The palace was then sold to the Malvezzi family. The piano nobile was only designed in the 18th century, and the courtyard was damaged in World War II before the whole building was restored in the 1970s and 1980s by Bologna's Soprintendenza.
The name Campeggi entered the palace through the 1707 marriage of Matteo Malvezzi and Francesca Maria Campeggi. Carlo Nessi's stuccoes link the heraldic symbols of both families, and frescoes by Carlo Lodi and Antonio Rossi celebrate Malvezzi military deeds, including Emilio Malvezzi, who fought for King Sigismund II of Poland.
The palace stands on Via Zamboni 22 next to the Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore in an easy-to-reach location. Since it now serves as an active university building, visiting may be restricted to certain hours or public areas only.
The stuccoes by Carlo Nessi weave together the heraldic emblems of the Malvezzi and Campeggi families, joined in 1707 by the marriage of Matteo Malvezzi and Francesca Maria Campeggi. Look for these paired coats of arms in the decorated rooms of the piano nobile.
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