Palazzo Maffei Marescotti
Roman Palaces
Description
The Maffei family originally came from Volterra, where a Maffei palace does still exist. Around 1577, the roman palace in the Via della Pigna was begun for cardinal Marcantonio Maffei; the architect was Giacomo della Porta. Maffei died, and in 1591, his heirs sold the unfinished palazzo to Camilla Peretti, sister of pope Sixtus V. Felice Peretti. At that time, the building hat seven window axis on the via della Pigna. Already in 1605, the Peretti sold her palace; in 1668, it was property of Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena. From 1746 on, the Marescotti owned the palace and finished the courtyard by adopting the 16th century forms. Alas, the piano nobile loggia was later bricked up.
The facade on the Viga della Pigna shows aedicula windows with alternating arched and triangular pediments. Each of the second floor windows architraves shows a deer head, the heraldic symbol of the Maffei.
Today, Palazzo Maffei Marescotti is used by the vicariate.
Literature
Stoppa, Massimo; Benedetti, Sandro: Il Palazzo del Vicariato alla Pigna. Palazzo Maffei Marescotti e i palazzi romani di Giacomo della Porta. Roma 2003
