THE VISIT

The rooms that can be visited at present are the atrium, the loggia of the Heroes, the room of the Roman Charity, the saloon of the Fall of the Giants and the four rooms of the west wing which formed the private apartment of Andrea Doria: the room of the Sacrifices, the room of the Zodiac and the chamber of Perseus and the chamber of Cadmus.

Façade and portal

At the atrium, we go in by the majestic portal, which stands out on via San Benedetto against the north façade of the palace, for which was planned a frescoed decoration to a design by Perin del Vaga (never executed), with the story of Furius Camillus who chases the Gauls out of Rome, an allusion to the chasing out of the French from Genoa in 1528. The portal, to a design by Perin del Vaga, was built between 1531 and 1533 by Silvio Cosini (Pisa ca. 1495 - Pietrasanta post 1549), who sculpted the two allegorical figures of Peace and Abundance at the sides of the Doria coat of arms and the war trophies on pedestals, and by Giovanni da Fiesole, who was responsible for the part that acts as “frame”.

The portal juts out from the wall, with two free-standing lateral columns, surmounted by a curvilinear tympanum. This type, imported from Rome and different from the “flattened” portals in use in Genoa in the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century, became a model immediately imitated by the local craftsmen.

Atrium

In the central rosette of the ceiling of the atrium is the name of Perin del Vaga and the date, 1530, together with the name of Annibale Angelini, who restored the frescoes in 1845. In the lunettes, now not very legible, are portrayed the stories of the seven kings of Rome; in the pendentives are depicted ancient divinities, and on the underside of the arches the heads of winds. In the four panels of the ceiling, interposed with grotesques, are painted the three moments of the Triumph of Lucius Aemilus Paulus, the general of ancient Rome, who chased the Gauls out of Liguria (again an allusion to the recent chasing out of the French from Genoa, in which the Doria had taken part), and the Triumph of the God Bacchus in India, an allegory of the pacification of the city.

On the walls are fastened six marble bas-reliefs, with pairs of putti who hold up trophies of arms all’antica, executed by Giovannangelo Montorsoli for San Matteo, the family church of the Doria. The bas-reliefs were transferred to where they are now in 1613.

The two sarcophagi come from the abbey of San Fruttuoso di Capodimonte, given by the Doria family to the F.A.I., and were placed in the palace of Fassolo between the end of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth. That to the left when one enters, in a poor state, dates to the second century AD and displays scenes of the story of Achilles in Scyros. It is documented as having been reused as a water-trough at the foot of the sixteenth-century tower of San Fruttuoso. The sarcophagus on the right, which has reliefs of a high quality, is of the third century AD and illustrates episodes of the myth of Selene and Endymion.

Grand staircase

The grand staircase, repainted by Angelini, gives access to the loggia.

Loggia degli Eroi (Loggia of the Heroes)

The loggia is the only part of the palace to have frescoed decoration also on the walls, in which are portrayed the most illustrious forebears of Andrea Doria clad as warriors. They are arranged chronologically from the west: Ansaldo, conqueror of the Moors in Spain (1147); Oberto, hero of the battle of the Meloria against the Pisans (1284); Lamba, victor over the Venetians at Curzola (1298); Rosso, admiral of Frederick II; Odoardo, Filippo, Pagano, Luciano, Pietro, Antonio and Tomaso, who defended Albenga in 1437.

On the minor doorways appear female figures, allegories of Fame, clothed in garments perhaps added in 1681 by Domenico Piola: the lunettes are decorated with putti, who hold arms and oval instruments. The loggia is roofed with five small vaults, decorated with the finest stucco work (note, for instance, the figures of Diana, Apollo, Diana of the Ephesians, and Neptune in the central small vault, linked to the symbology of the Four Elements), and frescoed panels, unfortunately partly lost. In the octagons at the centre are portrayed stories of republican heroes of ancient Rome (still legible are the scenes of Curtius hurling himself into the abyss and of Horatius who defends the Pons Sublicius).

Room of the Roman Charity

The centre of the vault is frescoed with the scene of the Roman Charity, which gives the room its name: the young Perone saves her old father, Cimon, by suckling him. Around are painted decorations all’antica. In the room are five cartoons designed by the Genoese painter, Lazzaro Calvi (1502-1607?), preparations for three tapestries of the series dedicated to the Battle of Lepanto (1571). The tapestries, which are in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, were made in Brussels between 1581 and 1591 to the orders of Giovanni Andrea Doria, who had taken part at the battle as admiral. On the walls, seventeenth-century ceramic plates manufactured in Montelupo: on the shelves, pharmacy vases made by Chiodo of Savona (middle of the seventeenth century), part of a rich series of pieces positioned in the various rooms of the palace. Also in the room is a large painting in which the figure is by Pasquale Chiesa (active in Rome from 1645 to 1651) and the still life, with a portrayal of fruit and flowers, by the Flemish specialist, Alezander Coosemans (Antwerp 1627-1689), a small portrait of Andrea Doria in old age (end of sixteenth century) and a portrait of another member of the family.

Saloon of the Fall of the Giants

The room is the most important of this princely residence and is dominated by the vast and complex scene signed low down on the left with the monogram of Perin.
The fresco, still in perfect condition, synthesizes various moments of the Fall of the Giants. In the upper part, Jupiter, surrounded by the gods of classical mythology, is shown in the act of loosing his destructive thunderbolts against the stupid Giants, guilty of having attempted an attack on Olympus, which is depicted in the scene at the second level. The Giants, felled by the bolts, lie on their backs on the ground.

The panel is surrounded by refined stucco work, which represents sacrifice scenes all’antica. The vault is subtended by eighteen lunettes, in which are stucco figures in high-relief, which portray water divinities. Under them runs a magnificent frieze, this too in stucco, with war trophies and, at intervals, the heraldic eagle of the Doria.

The monumental chimney piece, in black stone from Promontorio and white marble from Carrara, has at its centre a medallion with the myth of Prometheus who gives fire to man. This was executed by Silvio Cosini to the design of Perin del Vaga. On the portal which separates the room from the Loggia of the Heroes is placed an ancient bust of Octavianus Augustus.

The walls were covered with precious Flemish tapestries in wool and silk, designed by Perin, with the stories of the Loves of Jupiter taken from the Metamorphoses of Ovid, subsequently lost. Today are displayed in the room some magnificent portraits of illustrious persons of the Doria family, amongst which is the famous Portrait of Andrea dressed as admiral of the papal fleet, executed in 1526 by Sebastiano Luciani, known as “del Piombo”, (Venice 1485 - Rome 1547), commissioned by Pope Clement VII.

The insertion in the lower part of the panel of a false marble bas-relief with a series of naval emblems taken from a frieze of the first century BC, at the time fastened to the wall of the Roman church of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura. Another painting, by an anonymous painter, perhaps northern, depicts Andrea with the cat at the age of ninety-two years. Giannettino Doria, son of a cousin of Andrea and designated by him as his heir, but who tragically died young during the conspiracy of the Fieschi (1547), is depicted in a panel attributed to Agnolo Bronzino (Florence 1502-1572) or to Francesco Salviati.

Giovanni Andrea, son of Giannettino and effectively heir of Andrea the Great is portrayed by an anonymous Genoese artist (Lazzaro Tavarone?) in the black clothes of the Knights of San Giacomo of the Sword, with his favourite dog, gift of Philip II of Spain. This same mastiff, called Roldano, is depicted in the canvas signed by Aurelio Lomi (Pisa 1556 - post 1622), while being groomed by a young boy on a terrace of the palace.

Chamber of the Sacrifices

The room takes its name from the decoration of the lunettes, in which are portrayed scenes of sacrifices to the gods. The vault is minutely divided into panels, with pictures of divinities, small triumphs and grotesques, partly damaged during the war (the bombardment of 1944) and by subsequent infiltrations of damp, like other parts of the palace. On the walls is a valuable door of Genoese tradition, with the coat of arms of the Doria and portraits from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of Doria and Doria Pamphilj prelates. In this room, as in other private rooms of the prince, there is more evidence of the intervention of the Perin’s helpers, in this case the Tuscan Domenico Zaga (Figline Valdarno - Bottega a Roma before 1527).

Chamber of the Zodiac

The frescoes and the stuccoes, not very legible, represent the signs of the zodiac (lunettes), the seasons and other allegorical designs. At present the room is arranged as a bedroom, which was probably what it was already used for, during the summer, in the time of Andrea. On the walls are various paintings, amongst which are an eighteenth-century oval, part of a series of six portraits of ladies in the palace, and a canvas depicting the Marriage of Arduino, count of Narbone and Oria del Volta, by an anonymous Genoese artist of the beginning of the seventeenth century. The marriage, celebrated according to tradition in 941, is considered the legendary moment of the founding of the Doria family, whose name derives from the expression “figli di Oria (sons of Oria)”.

Chamber of Perseus

In the lunettes is recounted the myth of Perseus, after whom the room is named; he killed Medusa and liberated Andromeda from the monster. The ceiling is divided into panels of mythological subjects, in which are portrayed, amongst others, Pegasus who makes a spring gush forth, and Apollo amongst the Muses, symbols of harmony linked to the stories of Perseus. In the room, now used as a drawing room, are three panels signed by Domenico Piola (Genoa 1627-1703). At the centre of every canvas is the figure of the heraldic eagle of the Doria, surrounded by putti who bear emblems of the arts: painting and poetry, music and military valour. The series of the paintings constituted an allegory of the marriage between Giovani Andrea Doria III and Anna Pamphilj, celebrated in 1671, a date which appears on one of the pictures. The symbol of the Pamphilj family is the dove, which is present in the painting together with the allegory of music. There are also four portraits of eighteenth-century ladies. The portrait of Teresa Doria Tursi, executed in 1726 on the occasion of her marriage with Giovanni Andrea IV Doria is characterized by the presence behind the lady of an oval with the image of Andrea I, and is signed by Domenico Parodi (Genoa 1668 - 1740) and dated on the back. In front is positioned the portrait of another lady of the family, perhaps to be identified as Eleonora Carafa della Stadera, second wife of Giovanni Andrea IV, portrayed on the terrace of the palace at Fassolo, with the sea garden in the background.

Chamber of Cadmus

The present arrangement probably reflects the former function as bedroom. The decoration, frescoed and stuccoed, is unfortunately not well preserved, but is of mythological subjects: the lunettes represent the scenes of the myth of Cadmus, taken from the Metamorphoses of Ovid. On the walls is a Portrait of Andrea Doria in profile, a nineteenth-century copy, and two landscapes with ruins and small figures.

From the Chamber of Perseus we emerge onto the terrace which runs along the south façade, painted with scenes of the Story of Jason and the Conquest of the Golden Fleece, which has today completely disappeared, alluding to the honour of the Golden Fleece, granted to Andrea Doria by Charles V in 1531.

The terrace faces onto the sea garden, in which, at the level of the portico, are two sixteenth-century fountains, one shaped like a candelabrum, the work of Silvio Cosini to a design by Perin, and the other portraying a triton, executed by Giovannangelo Montorsoli. At the centre of the lower garden rises the theatrical Fountain of Neptune, sculpted between 1599 and 1603 by Taddeo Carlone in collaboration with his brothers. In the garden, which is due to be restored soon, are other fountains and statues of the sixteenth century.

Church of San Benedetto

The small church of San Benedetto, on the west of the palace and joined to it, rises where there had been an ancient Cistercian foundation. It was turned into its present form at the wish of Giovanni Andrea I Doria in memory of his wife, Zenobia del Carretto, who died in December 1590. A stone plaque dated 1593 and fastened to the wall in the portico to the left of the entrance records the restructuring works, including the addition of the apse and of the pronaos, entrusted to the architect Giovanni Ponello and to the marble worker Battista Carlone. A second plaque, dating to 1617, commemorates the extending of the monastery and the creation of the sea garden (destroyed), commissioned by Giovanna Doria Colonna, widow of Andrea II. The heraldic eagle of the Doria in marble intarsio decorates the pavement of the church, in front of the presbytery.