Palazzo Vimercati Sanseverino, Renaissance palazzo in Crema, Italy.

Palazzo Vimercati Sanseverino is a private Renaissance palazzo in Crema, the only one in the city still owned by the family that built it. Its main facade on Via Benzoni has two orders of windows: the first-floor windows rest on corbels carrying festoons of flowers and fruit, and above each sits a coat of arms of a Cremonese family. The piano nobile windows are flanked by half-columns supporting a broken curved pediment with busts of figures in ancient Roman armour or togas. The grand portal repeats these half-columns and carries the large Vimercati Sanseverino coat of arms, with a grotesque face beneath it; a double cornice tops the facade.

Marc'Antonio Vimercati Sanseverino, a infantry commander in Venetian service during the Cyprus war, began rebuilding the family residence from 1580; his sons Orazio and Ottaviano finished it in 1602, the year carved on the entrance portal's architrave. The earlier fifteenth-century house on the site had hosted Duke Francesco II Sforza for several weeks in 1526.

The name comes from two noble families who commissioned the building. When you look at the facade, you can see family coat of arms symbols that display the connection between the Vimercati and Sanseverino families.

The building today is a mix of private apartments and offices, so viewing from the outside is your best option. It sits centrally on Via Benzoni in Crema and is easy to find when exploring the city.

The palace is the only historic residence in Crema still owned by the same family that built it in the 16th century. A grotesque face sits beneath the large Vimercati Sanseverino coat of arms on the main portal.