Palazzo Aldobrandini Chigi
Roman Palaces
Palazzo Chigi in a 17th century etching by Giuseppe Vasi
Description
The palace, built for Pietro Aldobrandini, brother of Pope Clement VIII (Ippolito Aldobrandini) from 1578 to 1587, has one facade on the Corso and the other on Piazza Colonna. Initially, Palazzo Aldobrandini was a asymmetrical building with nine window axis on the Piazza and had ground floor stores with a mezzanine and windows with alternating triangular and arched pediments in the piano nobile. Most probably the palace was designed by Giacomo della Porta or Stefano Maderno.
When the double palace at Santi Apostoli, projected for the Chigi brothers, was not built, Mario and Agostino Chigi acquired Palazzo Aldobrandini in September, 1569. A drawing, preserved in the Chigi family archive, shows the palace's state shortly after the transaction. Felice della Greca immediately offered several designs for the enlargement of the building, incoporating several older buildings, and developed a new courtyard solution, as the L-type court of the palace did not fulfill the Chigis' requirements. When dalla Greca died in 1677, G.B. Costantini continued his work. The Palazzo Chigi now has a symmetrical facade of fifteen window axis; the ground floor botteghe have been removed and were replaced by "kneeling" rectangular windows.
Having served as the Austrian embassy in 1900, the Chigi sold the palace in 1916 to the Italien State. Today, Palazzo Chigi serves as the prime minister's residence. Palazzo di Montecitorio, adjacent to Palazzo Chigi in the west, is the Parliament.
Literature
Marino, Angela: Palazzo Chigi, dalla fabbrica Aldobrandini al Ministero delle Colonie, in: Architettura 34/39.1999/2002, pp. 427-438
