The Palazzo Torfanini is a

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

palace located on Via Galliera 4, in central

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. It is located near the

Palazzo Aldrovandi The Palazzo Aldovrandi is a ''Senatorial'' palace on Via Galliera 8 in Bologna, built in Rococo style. History Replacing an older construction, the palace we see today began in 1725 under the patronage of the Cardinal Pompeo Aldrovandi with plans ...

. The palace, with typical facade arcades, was commissioned by Bartolomeo Torfanini in 1544. The interiors were frescoed in 1549 by Nicolo dell'Abate. The exterior fresco work by

Girolamo da Treviso Girolamo da Treviso (Treviso, 1498 – Boulogne-sur-Mer, September 10, 1544), also known as Girolamo di Tommaso da Treviso the Younger and Girolamo Trevigi, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and painter in Henry VIII's court in England. Biogr ...

and

Prospero Fontana Prospero Fontana (1512–1597) was a Bolognese painter of late Renaissance and Mannerist art. He is perhaps best known for his frescoes and architectural detailing. The speed in which he completed paintings earned him commissions where he wor ...

has long decayed. In 1732, the palace was refurbished by

Alfonso Torreggiani Alfonso Torreggiani (1682–1764) was an Italian architect of the Rococo period, principally associated with Bologna. Life Torregiani was born in Budrio. An apprentice of Giuseppe Antonio Torri, he became intensely active in the city of B ...

for the Princesses Benedetta and Amalia d'Este of Modena. His contribution is noted in the window frames of the

piano nobile ( Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ) is the architectural term for the principal floor of a '' palazzo''. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the house ...

. The Abate frescoes were destroyed by Torregiani's reconstruction. The art collector Giacomo Bartolomeo Beccari asked the painter Domenico Fratta to copy the frieze and frescoes, however these copies were stolen from the Institute of Science of Bologna where they were kept. A copy of the copies were made for

Giovanni Battista Venturi Giovanni Battista Venturi (11 September 1746 – 10 September 1822) was an Italian physicist, savant, man of letters, diplomat and historian of science. He was the discoverer of the Venturi effect, which was described in 1797 in his ''Recherches E ...

, and these were rediscovered in 1929 in the Biblioteca Comunale of

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...

. Freedburg describes these much praised depiction of historical scenes of ancient Rome and scenes from

Orlando Furioso ''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form ...

as paintings ''where he depicted romantic landscapes, battle scenes, and most notably, musical parties of aristocratic contemporaries, of genre-like intimacy and arresting charm''... in these works, he became an explicit example of

Maniera Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it. ...

style.Painting in Italy, 1500-1600
Volume 35, 3rd edition (1993) By Sydney Joseph Freedberg, page 411.

References

{{Coord missing, Italy Houses completed in the 15th century Torfanini Renaissance architecture in Bologna Baroque architecture in Bologna