PALAZZO DELLA CANCELLERIA. — It is one of the largest and most significant Renaissance buildings in Rome. Construction began in 1485 by Cardinal Raffaele Riario on the site of the ancient basilica founded in honor of St. Lawrence by Pope Damasus and the 15th-century palace of its titular, but it was only completed after 1511.
The inscription on the façade suggests that by 1495 the building had reached that point and that the cardinal had already decided to incorporate the rebuilt basilica of which he was titular into the large quadrangle occupied by his structure.
Indeed, it must be considered that the arrangement carried out by Cardinal Riario and his architects for the rebuilt Basilica represents a makeshift solution compared to the original plans, which, however, are not known. In any case, three successive phases can be distinguished in the construction of the palace: the first, which reached around 1489, essentially comprises the side facing Via del Pellegrino; the second, the main body of the façade and perhaps some parts of the courtyard and the church; the third, finally, the completion of the courtyard, the main body facing the present-day Corso Vittorio Emanuele, and a general arrangement of the rear.
For the first two phases, it must be considered that Andrea Bregno (q.v.), the Lombard sculptor and decorator extremely active in Rome in the second half of the 15th century, played a predominant role in the works, and it is certain that the most elegant window frames on the façade and many doors inside the building are attributable to his workshop. For the third phase, however, as Vasari also states, a commission of architects presided over the work, including Donato Bramante (q.v.). Nevertheless, it is likely that Bramante himself had already previously worked on the palace, particularly on the magnificent courtyard, a masterpiece of early Roman Renaissance architecture, to which tradition has always attributed the name of the great architect.
Inside the building, which has housed the Apostolic Chancery since 1521, special mention should be made, in addition to the grand Sala Riaria, of the room known as the Sala dei Cento Giorni (q.v.), decorated with frescoes by Giorgio Vasari depicting scenes from the life and pontificate of Paul III Farnese (the only part damaged during the fire that broke out on New Year’s Eve 1940, which has undergone extensive restoration), and the chapel known as the Cappella del Pallio, decorated with extremely elegant paintings and stuccoes by Pierin del Vaga, who also painted in other parts of the palace, such as the vault of the hall known as the Salone dello Studio.
In 1798, the palace housed the tribunal of the Roman Republic, and in 1848, the Chamber of Deputies of the Papal State. It was at the foot of the staircase that Pellegrino Rossi was killed on 15 November of that year. In 1849, the palace was also the seat of the Constituent Assembly of the Second Roman Republic. — See Plates XXXVIII–XXXIX.