Audioguide by eArs

Barozzi Hall

Narrator: In this hall, we want to leave you in the hands of a special guide honouring us with his illustrious presence.

Jacopo Barozzi: Greetings to you, scholarly visitors! My name is Jacopo Barozzi, have you heard of me? No? Perhaps because I'm known in history by my nickname. Here's a clue: the name comes from the city where I came to light in the anno domini 1507.
That's right, I'm known as Vignola: a versatile architect, hydraulic engineer, painter and one of the most insightful essayists of the Renaissance, in all modesty.I offered my services to popes, sovereigns and lords in Lazio, Emilia, and many other places on the Peninsula, spreading the cult of classicism through the architecture I designed, which has been the source of so much inspiration in the centuries after my time. Among all my exploits, have you ever heard of a certain St Peter's Basilica? I was the one who took over from the divine Michelangelo to complete its construction.You may have noticed the statue dedicated to me in the courtyard, but you'll also find my portrait in one of the display cases here, engraved on the frontispiece of the famous essay The Five Orders of Architecture. If you're passionate about architecture, make sure you catch the plan layout of one of my masterpieces: Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola, with its characteristic pentagonal shape. Indeed, at the behest of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, I designed the tabernacle for the church of Sant'Antonio Martire in Fara Sabina in 1563. You can admire a full-scale wooden reproduction here: it's a real temple with a central layout... in miniature.I left a precious jewel here in my Vignola: do you want to see it? Simply look out the window to see Palazzo Contrari-Boncompagni. Just think that to build it, 11 houses had to be torn down between 1560 and 1567, including my family's! There’s an extraordinary spiral staircase inside, one of the most sophisticated of the 16th century!