The Trinci Palace is a patrician

Patricianship

Patricianship, the quality of belonging to a patriciate, began in the ancient world, where cities such as Ancient Rome had a class of patrician families whose members were the only people allowed to exercise many political functions...

 residence in the center of Foligno

Foligno

Foligno is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system...

, central Italy. It houses an archaeological museum, the city's picture gallery, a multimedia museum of Tournaments and Jousts and the Civic Museum.

History

Palazzo Trinci was the residence of the Trinci family who ruled over the city from 1305 to 1439. The palace was built (attested by archival documents) over a medieval building by Ugolino III Trinci

Ugolino III Trinci

Ugolino III Trinci was Lord of Foligno in the early 14th century.The son of Trincia II Trinci, he was justice gonfalonier and "Captain of the People" of Foligno from 1386, succeeding to his brother Corrado, and receiving the title of Papal vicar from the Pope in 1405...

 between 1389 and 1407. An adapted Roman burial stele

Stele

A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 states the date 1407, which may be the actual year the construction started. It was completed in 1411.

After the defeat and death of Corrado III Trinci

Corrado III Trinci

Corrado III Trinci was lord of Foligno from 1421 until 1439.Trinci ruled Foligno with his brothers Niccolò and Bartolomeo, until their assassination by the castellan of Nocera Umbra. Corrado Trinci took his revenge by attacking the town and killing the castellan.Initially a fierce enemy of the...

 (June 1441), the palace became the seat of the Priori del Popolo and the papal government of Foligno. From that moment on, the building began to decline slowly. Already in 1458 Pope Pius II  had to provide 200 guilders for its restoration. A similar episode occurred in 1475 with pope Sixtus IV  and in 1546 with pope Paul III Farnese. The south-west part of the building was used as a prison from 1578 on. The staircase in the courtyard was restored in 1679, but then demolished in 1781. In the early 18th century, a small part of the south-west building was converted to a small theater.

The building underwent serious damage by the earthquakes of 1831-1832 and minor damages by the bombing of Foligno in 1944 and the earthquake of 1985.

Description

The present inconspicuous Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

 façade dates only from 1842 to 1847. It was built by Vincenzo Vitali on a draft of Odoardo Poggi, amended by Sigismondo Ferretti.

The arcaded inner courtyard reflects the problems the architects faced when they wanted to save as much as possible from the pre-existing structure. They created a transition from the Romanesque style and Gothic style of the ground floor to the Renaissance style of the upper floors. The steep Gothic staircase (Scala Gotica) was built over three Romanesque cross vaults between 1390 and 1400, when the palace still belonged to the wealthy merchant Giovanni Ciccarelli. The surface of this staircase and the surrounding cloister walls were originally covered with frescoes, now almost completely lost. The staircase, demolished in 1781, was rebuilt by Cesare Bazzani in 1927.
All frescoes in the palace, except those of the chapel, were commissioned by Ugolino III Trinci

Ugolino III Trinci

Ugolino III Trinci was Lord of Foligno in the early 14th century.The son of Trincia II Trinci, he was justice gonfalonier and "Captain of the People" of Foligno from 1386, succeeding to his brother Corrado, and receiving the title of Papal vicar from the Pope in 1405...

, who died in 1415. Their execution started probably in 1407. The concept of these fresco cycles probably came from Francesco Federico Frezzi, the bishop of Foligno and author of the Quadriregio, a poem of the four kingdoms Love, Satan, the Vices, and the Virtues. Some of these frescoes were painted between 1411 and 1412 by Gentile da Fabriano

Gentile da Fabriano

Gentile da Fabriano was an Italian painter known for his participation in the International Gothic style. He worked in various places in central Italy, mostly in Tuscany. His best known works are his Adoration of the Magi and the Flight into Egypt.-Biography:Gentile was born in or near Fabriano,...

, with the assistance of Jacopo Bellini

Jacopo Bellini

Jacopo Bellini was an Italian painter. Jacopo was one of the founders of the Renaissance style of painting in Venice and northern Italy. His sons Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, and his son-in-law Andrea Mantegna, were also famous painters....

. The designs were by Gentile da Fabriano, but their painting was almost completely done by pupils. The authorship of the frescoes was attested by Lodovico Coltellini, a scholar who saw in 1780 two receipts to Ugolino Trinci by Gentile da Fabriano for painting the halls.
The loggia

Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...

 is decorated with frescoes describing the legend of the "Founding of Rome". These frescoes are already mentioned in documents dating from 1405. They depict The Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia

Rhea Silvia

Rhea Silvia , and also known as Ilia, was the mythical mother of the twins Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome...

 who gives in to the love of the god Mars

Mars (mythology)

Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...

, birth of Romulus

Romulus

- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...

 and Remus

Remus

Remus is the twin brother of the mythical founder of Rome.Remus may also refer to:* Remus , a fictional planet in Star Trek* Remus , a moon of the asteroid 87 Sylvia...

, Faustulus brings the twins to his wife Acca Larentia, Rhea Silvia, the siege of Alba Longa

Alba Longa

Alba Longa – in Italian sources occasionally written Albalonga – was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy southeast of Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of...

, the twins and the king Amulius

Amulius

In Roman mythology, Amulius was the brother of Numitor and son of Procas. He was the hostile uncle of Romulus and Remus' mother.-Myth:His brother, Numitor, was the King of Alba Longa. Amulius overthrew him and took the throne. Amulius forced Rhea Silvia, Numitor's daughter, to become a Vestal...

. Each episode is explained below by verses in Italian. Through these frescoes, the Trinci family tried to provide an acceptable lineage of their ancestors to the founders of Rome. The painter of these frescoes is anonymous. His style is certainly different from the styles of the frescoes in the other rooms of the palace. He paints with almost monochromatic colors and has a great sense of anecdotal narrative. These reveal a certain similarity with the Master of the Life of St. Benedict (partly in the Uffizi

Uffizi

The Uffizi Gallery , is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.-History:...

, Florence, and part in the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan).

The small chapel is entirely decorated with frescoes by Ottaviano Nelli (1421- February 1424), describing in sixteen scenes the life of the Virgin : Anna and Joachim in the Temple, annunciation to Joachim and Anna, meeting at the Porta Aurea, birth of Mary, marriage to Joseph, Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, presentation of Jesus in the Temple, announcement of the death of Mary, arrival of the apostles, death of Mary, funeral and Assumption. The fresco of the Crucifixion above the altar shows also the archbishop Jacobus de Voragine

Jacobus de Voragine

Blessed Jacobus de Varagine or Voragine was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of Legenda Aurea, the Golden Legend, a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medieval church that was one of the most popular...

 with his book the Golden Legend

Golden Legend

The Golden Legend is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that became a late medieval bestseller. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived, compared to twenty or so of its nearest rivals...

 in his hand. This fresco is flanked by frescoes of three saints (one of them is the blessed Paoluccio Trinci, who died in September 1390) and St. Francis

Francis of Assisi

Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...

, receiving the Stigmata

Stigmata

Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus, such as the hands and feet...

. Many of these palace chapels were dedicated to Mary in the 13th to the 15th centuries. These frescoes were commissioned by Corrado III Trinci

Corrado III Trinci

Corrado III Trinci was lord of Foligno from 1421 until 1439.Trinci ruled Foligno with his brothers Niccolò and Bartolomeo, until their assassination by the castellan of Nocera Umbra. Corrado Trinci took his revenge by attacking the town and killing the castellan.Initially a fierce enemy of the...

 who resumed the policy of his father as a patron of the Arts. These religious frescoes are a rare set that show at the same time a humanistic and profane iconography.
The Hall of Liberal Arts and of the Planets (or Hall of Stars) takes its name because its frescoes represent the Liberal Arts

Liberal arts

The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

 : the Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, logic and philosophy) and the Quadrivium

Quadrivium

The quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities, after teaching the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" , and its use for the 4 subjects has been attributed to Boethius or Cassiodorus in the 6th century...

 (music, geometry, astronomy, and arithmetics) and the planets: (Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the Sun - the latter two are missing) The other side of the room shows the different Ages of Man (infancy, childhood, adolescence, youth, adulthood, deterioration, old age, decrepitude) and the Hours of the Day. The former name of the room was "Chamber of the Rose", probably because of the presence of roses, emblem of Trinci family, in its decorative top. The hall represents iconographically the best of medieval culture. There are seven planets, as there are seven ages of man, each under the influence of a planet. This influence of the planets is stronger in certain times of day, as man learns in each age another discipline. The provision of the planetary system does not conform to the actual position of planets in the heavens, but follows a chronological trend that relates to the day of the week.
The impressive frescoes in the Hall of the Emperors or the Hall of the Giants represent the leaders, heroes and emperors of Ancient Rome, sumptuously dressed in Renaissance clothes. The practice of decorating palace walls with a series of famous men was widely known during the Middle Ages and lasted well into the 16th century. These paintings were meant to enhance the glory and the importance of the owner of the palace. These frescoes, executed in Late Gothic style, were already mentioned in a document dating 1417. They represent Romulus

Romulus

- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...

, Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....

 (lost), emperor Augustus

Augustus

Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...

, Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...

, Lucius Furius Camillus, Gaius Fabricius Luscinus

Gaius Fabricius Luscinus

Gaius Fabricius Luscinus Monocularis , son of Gaius, was said to have been the first of the Fabricii to move to ancient Rome, his family originating from Aletrium....

, Manus Curius Dentatus

Curius Dentatus

Manius Curius Dentatus , son of Manius, was a three-time consul and a plebeian hero of the Roman Republic, noted for ending the Samnite War. According to Pliny, he was born with teeth, thus earning the cognomen Dentatus, "Toothy."...

, Titus Manlius Torquatus

Titus Manlius Torquatus (347 BC)

Titus Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus held three consulships of republican Rome and was also three times Roman Dictator.His father Lucius was appointed dictator in 363 BC in order to fulfill religious duties, but instead undertook preparations for war...

, Cincinnatus

Cincinnatus

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was an aristocrat and political figure of the Roman Republic, serving as consul in 460 BC and Roman dictator in 458 BC and 439 BC....

, Marcus Marcellus

Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Julio-Claudian dynasty)

Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus, and Gaius Claudius Marcellus Minor, a former consul...

, Scipio Africanus

Scipio Africanus

Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...

, Muzius Sceva, Cato the Younger

Cato the Younger

Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , commonly known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...

, Gaius Marius

Gaius Marius

Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the...

, Publius Decius

Decius (disambiguation)

Decius was the 3rd-century emperor.Decius may also refer to:* Decius for several other Ancient Romans*Decius , first Exarch of Ravenna 584–585...

, Nero

Nero

Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....

, Fabius Maximus

Fabius Maximus

Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator was a Roman politician and general, born in Rome around 280 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was Roman Consul five times and was twice Dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC. He reached the office of Roman Censor in 230 BC...

, Caligula

Caligula

Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...

, Pompey

Pompey

Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic...

 and Trajan

Trajan

Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...

 (the last three are lost). Each figure is illustrated by a Latin epigram

Epigram

An epigram is a brief, interesting, usually memorable and sometimes surprising statement. Derived from the epigramma "inscription" from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein "to write on inscribe", this literary device has been employed for over two millennia....

. All, except Caligula, are positive models. These frescoes relate to the style of Ottaviano Nelli.

The concept of these frescoes came from the humanist Francesco da Fiano (1350 ca.-1421), who was inspired by the model of ancient biographies of famous men (De viris illustribus) by Petrarca

Petrarca

Petrarca may refer to:* Petrarch, the English name for Francesco Petrarca , Italian scholar, poet, and Renaissance humanist* David Petrarca , director at the Goodman Theatre* Petrarca Rugby, an Italian rugby union club...

, used in the decoration (today lost) in the great hall of the palace of the Carrara (Loggia dei Carraresi) in Padova.

Some archaeological artifacts are also on exhibition in this room, most notably a marble slab showing a quadriga

Quadriga

A quadriga is a car or chariot drawn by four horses abreast . It was raced in the Ancient Olympic Games and other contests. It is represented in profile as the chariot of gods and heroes on Greek vases and in bas-relief. The quadriga was adopted in ancient Roman chariot racing...

 race in the Circus Maximus

Circus Maximus

The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot racing stadium and mass entertainment venue located in Rome, Italy. Situated in the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire...

, Rome
The Hall of Sixtus IV was originally a vast open room without roofing. In 1476 pope Sixtus IV stayed for a short time in this palace, while Rome was afflicted with the plague. The pontiff's emblem can still be seen on the wooden ceiling of this hall and of the Hall of the Emperors.The Hall of Sixtus IV was redecorated during the reign of pope Paul III Farnese (1535-1546), most probably by the painters Lattanzio Pagani and his gifted assistant Dono Doni

Dono Doni

Dono Doni, also known as Adone Doni or Dono dei Doni, who was born at Assisi, early in the 16th century, is said to have been a disciple of Pietro Perugino. His style retained but little of the Gothic manner of that master, and in his later years he abandoned the style of the school of Raphael, and...

. The frieze with mythological stories can be attributed to them. The hall of Sixtus IV is an important example of the new Mannerist style of Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...

 that has undergone a Roman influence.

The walls of the corridor, linking the palace with the cathedral of San Feliciano, is frescoed with the Heroes of Ancient Times (Ciclo dei Prodi). These frescoes represent heroes from Roman times (Romulus, Scipio Africanus) and nine heroes from French medieval tradition, the Nine Worthies

Nine Worthies

The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural and legendary personages who personify the ideals of chivalry as were established in the Middle Ages. All are commonly referred to as 'Princes' in their own right, despite whatever true titles each man may have held...

. These came from Jewish history (Joshua

Joshua

Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...

, King David and Judas Maccabeus

Judas Maccabeus

Judah Maccabee was a Kohen and a son of the Jewish priest Mattathias...

), pagan history (Hector

Hector

In Greek mythology, Hectōr , or Hektōr, is a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. As the first-born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, a descendant of Dardanus, who lived under Mount Ida, and of Tros, the founder of Troy, he was a prince of the royal house and the...

 (lost), Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great) and Christian history (King Arthur

King Arthur

King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...

, Charlemagne

Charlemagne

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

 and Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon

Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish knight who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade from 1096 until his death. He was the Lord of Bouillon, from which he took his byname, from 1076 and the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1087...

, the last two are lost)