Palazzo Belimbau

History

The palace was initially built by Antoniotto Cattaneo, a member of the old Genoese nobility, who completed the construction of the building in 1594.

The residence then became the property of Francesco De Ferrari, who with his wife Delia Giustiniani, between 1604 and 1611, probably entrusting the work to the architect Ceresola known as Andrea Vannone, renovated it and united it with another of his adjoining residences, thus giving the building its present architectural and volumetric consistency.

In the first decade of the 17th century, the family commissioned Lazzaro Tavarone (Genoa 1556–1641), a pupil of Luca Cambiaso, to decorate the palace with a vast pictorial cycle with a historical-celebratory theme, which would be deployed on the walls and vault (architecture) of the vestibule, the grand staircase and various rooms on the piano nobile. The frescoes decorating the entrance vestibule, which gives access to the monumental staircase, are dedicated to the life of Cleopatra. In the centre of the vault, the main panel depicts the queen of Egypt sailing in the waters of the Cnidus river, on the grandiose ship with a golden stern and silver oars, as narrated by Plutarch in his Vieces. All around it within painted mock architectures are fanciful grotesque decorations of a still late Mannerist taste, interspersed with full-length portraits of condottieri. The cycle dedicated to Cleopatra continues on the monumental staircase, where The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra. …