STUCCO FACADES

In London we think of stucco façades as those endless cream-painted, sober terraces, mostly 19th century, perfectly dignified and smart-looking, but frankly dull. In Rome, they’re a different matter. Palazzo Spada’s street façade, above, an elaborate confection of medallions, swags, inscriptions, and statues of the Caesars, is amazing enough for the sophistication and beauty of the design, without thinking that it was made in 1550.

In the courtyard, above, stucchista Giulio Mazzoni continued the themes of his façade, but with nude statues of gods and men holding aloft the arms of Pope Julius III and the King of France, showing the loyalties of Cardinal Capodiferro who built the palace, sold in 1632 to the Spada family. Nearby is the gently curved front of Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, below, built on the curved foundations of Domitian’s Stadium, with its elegant stucco rustication and curious inset-cartouche window frames.

The entrance colonnade of Palazzo Massimo, above, has severely architectural but lavish stucco work, including the lovely, marble-topped benches. The whole thing was designed by Baldassare Peruzzi 1532-6, after three old Massimo palaces on the site were burnt during the Sack of Rome. Below, another Renaissance stucco façade, this time in Ferrara, with wonderfully varied and subtle military trophies hung from chains and ribbons from the jaws of lions. The stucco here has worn down with age, giving it a nicely ruined patina.