Palazzo Marescotti Brazzetti, Bologna, Renaissance palace in Bologna, Italy

Palazzo Marescotti Brazzetti is a Renaissance building in Bologna with an elegant portico supported by Corinthian columns that feature the Marescotti family coat of arms at their capitals. The structure showcases the architectural style typical of wealthy merchant families from this period.

Ercole Marescotti, allied with Pope Julius II, helped bring about the destruction of the Bentivoglio palace in 1507; men led by Gaspare Scappi and Galeazzo Poeti then destroyed the Marescotti house in revenge. The papal legate Francesco Alidosio commissioned Giovanni Beroaldo to rebuild it, and the facade above the portico is still unfinished. Raniero Marescotti, last of the senatorial branch, had the interiors remodelled in 1680. The Italian Communist Party bought the palace in 1947, and the University of Bologna restored it between 2003 and 2007.

The name Brazzetti comes from the family that inherited the palace after the Marescotti line died out; the Marescotti coat of arms still appears on the Corinthian capitals of the portico. The ballroom's main fresco, the Exaltation of the House of Marescotti, was painted by the brothers Giuseppe and Antonio Rolli, with walls by their pupil Giuseppe Antonio Caccioli.

The building now houses the University of Bologna's Department of Music and Performance Arts with an extensive music library. Visitors should check ahead about access, as the space functions as an active university facility with specific visiting hours.

The facade above the portico remains unfinished, revealing the interrupted construction from the early 16th century. This incomplete section tells the story of the economic and political difficulties that halted work on the building at that time.