Palazzo Caffarelli Vidoni
Roman Palaces
Description
The palace of Bernardino Caffarelli, located at the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, is sometimes attributed to Raffael himself, but probably, according to Vasari, it was designed by Lorenzo Lotti, called Lorenzetto, a scholar of Raffael. Palazzo Caffarelli Vidoni shows characteristics of Bramante's Palazzo Caprini, such as a heavy ground floor bossage contrasting with a single upper floor structured by semi-columns.
Originally, the palace had seven window axis and a single piano nobile. A second upper floor, repeating the model of the first, was later added on the Corso facade, and makes the original design illegible. The facade on the Via del Sudario was already enlarged in the 16th century; a second floor of lower height was added around 1770. While the original parts (three window axis at the left and right of the middle portal) have ground floor openings for botteghe alternating with portals, the additions have "kneeling" windows and a different type of bossage.
Literature
Luciani, Roberto: Palazzo Caffarelli Vidoni. Roma 2002
