Documented in the 16th Century, given the street number 113 in the Boncompagni Land Registry, the building today known as Palazzo Brazzetti, was once owned by the Galli di Bibiena, the famous family of architects, painters and set designers. In 1743 Fernando Bibiena, the inventor of angular perspective, died in this house.
It was subsequently owned by the Conti Scarselli and then by the Brazzetti family whose name it still bears.
Very few traces remain of the original sixteenth century building, but they can still be seen in the terracotta and sandstone crenellations of the two main courtyards and in the column with sandstone capital set in one of the outer walls of the staircase in the first courtyard. Other traces, with decorations, can be seen in the sixteenth Century vaults of the first-floor rooms.
Bassano, erudite expert in the art of Bologna and author of one of the most accurate guides ever written in Bologna, speaks thus of the Palazzo:
“… It was the home of the renowned Bibiena family, by whom it was completely rebuilt on the order of Giovanni Maria Galli da Bibiena, (…), and completed by Ferdinando, the famous civil architect and painter. Beneath the portico, the lunette, which no longer exists, featuring the Virgin Mary and the saints is by Giovanni Maria Bibiena. The entry loggia and staircase were designed by Ferdinando Bibiena. Higher up, the Virgin Mary above the main door is the work of Tiburzio Passerotti, commissioned by the Gaggi family when they were the past owners of the house. In the salon, the ceiling depicting Flora, the goddess of flowers, and which can still be seen is the work of Giovanni Battista Bibiena, and the plaster sculptures are by Bonaveri. In the chamber, above the hearth was a depiction of burning of Troy (no longer in existence) by Ferdinando Bibiena and the architectural painting in the chamber, which still exists, is by Ognibene.”
The adjacent rooms are now decorated with tempera paintings featuring putti and allegories, local scenes and portraits of various 19th Century masters, all superbly executed.
In the rooms adjoining the salon, both to the east and to the south, it would seem that the restoration and repainting work carried out in the 19th Century still left some features unaltered, as can be seen in the architectural design, probably conceived and executed by the Bibiena family.
