Palazzo Ruspoli Rome

Palazzo Ruspoli is situated in the northern part of a large area, known in Antiquity as Campo Marzio.

The present day Palazzo Ruspoli on the via del Corso documents a particular construction situation: a building built and determined in its principal phases along a vast timeframe, in whose definition participated various proprietors, architects and artisans.  In spite of the progressive additions, the building was developed, adapted and transformed in the respect of a formative “guideline” stemming from the core structure of its first author.

The main structural characteristics of the new building commissioned by the Jacobilli family of Foligno, begun in 1556. In 1583 Orazio Rucellai bought the “unfinished” Jacobilli building. 

Under the Rucellai ownership the most representational parts of the building were completed (1583-1586):  the outdoor loggia and the gallery, with the involvement of the famous Tuscan architect Bartolomeo Ammannati; and the great decorative cycle representing the Genealogy of the Gods commissioned to Jacopo Zucchi.

The subsequent construction phase began with the Caetani family who purchased the palace in 1629.  The Rucellai building structure was completed by Bartolomeo Breccioli and adapted with the commission of a monumental open-air staircase to Martino Longhi the younger, which was acclaimed as one of the wonders of the city by his contemporaries.