Palazzo Altieri, Palace and art museum in Oriolo Romano, Italy.
Palazzo Altieri in Oriolo Romano is a manor house in Mannerist style with three floors and a central structure, flanked by wings facing north. The layout frames a large inner courtyard and displays the typical geometric proportions of this architectural period.
Giorgio II Santacroce began the palace in 1579 and his son Onofrio III continued it until 1585. The Santacroce owned it until 1602, the Orsini held it from 1603 to 1670, and the Altieri from 1671 to 1971. Under the Altieri, Carlo Fontana directed works in the 17th and 18th centuries that added the north wings and the clock tower. Debts forced the Altieri heiresses to auction the furnishings in 1970, and the Italian state bought the palace by preemption.
The Galleria dei Papi in the east wing holds portraits of every pope of the Catholic Church. It served as the model for the papal portraits of San Paolo fuori le mura, destroyed in the fire of 1823. The art historian Costantino D'Orazio devoted an episode of his programme AR - Frammenti d'ARte to the palace.
The museum occupies fourteen rooms on either side of the Salone degli Avi, the palace's central hall, with the Cappella di San Massimo and the Galleria dei Papi at the ends. The walled park, cut off from the palace when the state bought the building in 1970, reopened to the public only in 2010. Since December 2019 the site has been run by the Direzione regionale Musei.
The Galleria dei Papi in the east wing gathers portraits of all the popes of the Catholic Church. After the fire of 1823 destroyed the papal portraits of San Paolo fuori le mura, this gallery served as the model for their replacement. The art historian Costantino D'Orazio devoted an episode of his programme AR - Frammenti d'ARte to the palace.
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