Inside Palazzo Sacchetti, Rome: Photographs by Vittorio Sciosia

A palace on Via Giulia

Vittorio’s photographs of Palazzo Sacchetti reveal the interiors of a private Roman palace: Renaissance architecture, rooms conceived around painting and sculpture, and the furnishings of a historic residence.

The palace stands at Via Giulia 66. Antonio da Sangallo the Younger designed it as his own home in the sixteenth century. After his death, Cardinal Giovanni Ricci acquired and enlarged it; the Sacchetti family became its owners in the seventeenth century. Successive patrons added to its decoration and collections, giving the interiors their layered character.

Vittorio Sciosia was commissioned to photograph the palazzo and was given exclusive access for that assignment. His photographs take us from complete rooms to individual objects. The palace is not open to visitors. These images offer a closer look at interiors that are normally inaccessible.

The Hall of Globes

The Salone dei Mappamondi takes its name from the two large globes by the cosmographer Vincenzo Coronelli, dating from the late seventeenth century. One represents the earth, the other the heavens. Set beneath the coffered ceiling, they give the room an immediately recognisable focus.

Around them, Francesco Salviati’s frescoes of the Stories of David, painted in 1553–1554, fill the walls of what was Cardinal Ricci’s audience hall. Figures, narrative scenes and painted architectural elements create a continuous decorative scheme around the doors and windows.

The dining gallery and The Great Beauty

The dining gallery has a different character. Tall windows illuminate the long table, rows of chairs and displays of porcelain. Sculptures occupy niches between the openings, while gilded furniture and decorative borders give the room a strong visual rhythm.

Palazzo Sacchetti was one of the locations used by Paolo Sorrentino in The Great Beauty. The gallery provides the setting for the scene in which the aristocratic Viola waits at a table for guests who do not arrive. Knowing the film adds another point of recognition, but the room’s proportions and furnishings are reasons enough to linger.

Sculpture and decorative detail

The smaller details reward the same attention as the complete rooms. A bust occupies an oval recess between painted figures; garlands and mouldings connect one part of the wall to the next. Elsewhere, a line of sculpted figures shows how the niches are repeated along the gallery.

Vittorio’s close views make these relationships easy to see. The oblique photograph follows the depth of the wall, while the frontal study isolates a single statue against its ochre background. They are useful reminders to look both along a room and closely at what each section contains.

Access for a photographic commission

Palazzo Sacchetti is not open to visitors. Vittorio was commissioned to photograph the palace and gained exclusive access to carry out that work. The photographs in this feature were made during that professional assignment.

For travellers exploring Rome, the palace’s exterior can be seen at Via Giulia 66. A walk along the street places it among the historic centre’s palace façades and side streets, with Piazza Farnese and Campo de’ Fiori nearby.

For further background on the building and its artworks, see Turismo Roma’s Palazzo Sacchetti entry.

A commissioned look inside the palazzo

Vittorio Sciosia collaborates with ExpertoItaly, photographing Italian locations and properties and sharing observations from his travels with Antonio. His commission at Palazzo Sacchetti gave him exclusive access to photograph the interiors, from their overall proportions to the details of individual artworks and furnishings.

This selection forms part of our photographic features with Vittorio. For another perspective on an Italian palace, explore his photographic visit to Palazzo Gangi in Palermo, or meet the people behind ExpertoItaly.

Palazzo Sacchetti photographs: Vittorio Sciosia.