House Museum Visits
Address: Via dei Priori 84, 06123 Perugia
Contact: +39 075 5734844
info@fondazionemariniclarellisanti.org
It is possible to visit the Foundation’s rooms and archives with a guided tour every day by appointment only.
A house museum in the heart of Perugia that reveals the elegance and richness of its perfectly preserved furnishings and collections. Belonging to one of Perugia’s most prestigious families, the Palazzo degli Oddi, now the Marini Clarelli Santi Foundation, reveals to the public a noble dwelling that bears witness to more than three centuries of history. Located in the medieval district of Porta S. Susanna, it rises with its 18th-century façade, elegant and severe, at the beginning of Via dei Priori, the royal access road to the historical centre, on the ancient small square once called ‘degli Oddi’. The large 16th-century hall on the ground floor, which preserves its painted coffered ceiling and original terracotta floor, is frescoed with panels narrating the glorious deeds of the Oddi family, interspersed with mannerist and harmonious figures of Muses and Virtues. Facing the loggia, one can admire the 18th-century garden, which heralds a suggestive view of Perugia’s panorama.
On the piano nobile, a second reception hall, originally a ballroom, frescoed with coats of arms of the nobility, preserves period furniture and 17th-18th-century paintings, evidence of a collection built up since the 17th century with notable examples of the art of central and northern Italy, including Luigi Scaramuccia and Francesco del Cairo. The Lady’s flat, three rooms opened in the mid-eighteenth century, contain a series of canvases by rovinist painters, furniture and furnishings, all original, that tell the history and stories of the people who lived in the residence. Family portraits wink at the visitor, antique table games and furnishings evoke the life that passed in the noble rooms.
A small study, which belonged to Maria Vittoria degli Oddi, retains its original floor and burgundy silk covering the walls, a small den where the cultured marquise devoted herself to her studies: her writings, votive pictures, majolica, chinoseries and 19th-century wooden furniture are all to be found there. The widow’s bedroom is fitted out with a display of accessories, everyday objects, clothing and family photographs from the early 20th century; on the walls are 16th and 17th century paintings, including a contemporary copy of Titian’s Danae.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.dimorestoricheitaliane.it/dimora/fondazione-marini-clarelli-santi/?lan=it
