Page 79 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

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q Palazzo Venezia
and Museum
Via del Plebiscito 118. Map 5 A4 & 12
E4. Tel 06-6999 4388. @ 40, 62, 63,
64, 110, 170. v 8. Open 8:30am–
7:30pm Tue–Sun (last adm: 30 mins
before closing). Closed Jan 1, May 1,
Dec 25. &7 Temporary exhibitions.
The arched windows and
doors of this Renaissance civic
building are so harmonious that
the facade was once attributed
to the great Humanist architect Palazzo Venezia with Mussolini’s balcony in the center
Leon Battista Alberti
(1404–72). It was w San Marco The blue and gold coffered
more probably ceiling is decorated with Pope
built by Giuliano Piazza San Marco 48. Map 5 A4 & 12 Paul’s heraldic crest, the lion
da Maiano, who is F4. Tel 06-679 5205. @ 40, 62, 63, rampant, recalling the lion of
known to have 64, 110, 170. v 8. Open 4–7 Mon, St. Mark, patron saint of Venice.
7:30am–12:30pm & 4–7pm Tue–Sat,
carved the fine 7:30am–12:30pm & 4–7:30pm Sun. 5 The appearance of the rest of
doorway onto the interior, with its colonnades
the piazza. The church of San Marco was of Sicilian jasper, was largely the
Palazzo founded in 336 by Pope Mark, creation of Filippo Barigioni in
Pope Paul II Venezia was in honor of St. Mark the the 1740s. Complemented by
built in 1455–64 Evangelist. The Pope’s relics lie an interesting array of funerary
for the Venetian cardinal Pietro under the altar. The church was monuments in the aisles,
Barbo, who later became Pope restored by Pope Gregory IV in the style is typical of the late
Paul II. It was at times a papal the 9th century – the Roman Baroque.
residence, but it also served magnificent apse Leon Battista
as the Venetian Embassy to mosaics date from Alberti, whose name
Rome before passing into this period. is also mentioned
French hands in 1797. Since Further major tentatively in
1916 it has belonged to the rebuilding took connection with
state; in the Fascist era, place in 1455–71, Palazzo Venezia,
Mussolini used Palazzo when Pope Paul II may have been
Venezia as his headquarters Barbo made San the architect of the
and addressed crowds from Marco the church elegant travertine
the central balcony. of the Venetian arcade and loggia
The interior is best seen community in Rome. Coat of arms of Pope Paul II of the facade.
by visiting the Museo del
Palazzo Venezia, Rome’s most
underrated museum. It holds
first-class collections of early
Renaissance painting; painted
wood sculptures and
Renaissance chests from Italy;
tapestries from all of Europe;
majolica; silver; Neapolitan
ceramic figurines; Renaissance
bronzes; arms and armor;
Baroque terra-cotta sculptures
by Bernini, Algardi, and others;
and 17th- and 18th-century
Italian painting. There is a
marble screen from the Aracoeli
convent, destroyed to make
way for the Victor Emmanuel
Monument, and a bust of Paul II,
showing him to rank with
Martin V and Leo X among
the fattest-ever popes. The
building also hosts major
temporary exhibitions. San Marco’s apse mosaic of Christ, with Gregory IV on the far left

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