Palazzo Ricci

Palazzo Ricci in Macerata houses a collection of more than three hundred works of twentieth-century Italian art, including paintings and sculpture associated with Futurism, Metaphysical painting, the Scuola Romana, Informal art and Pop art. The collection is presented within a historic residence remodelled in the eighteenth century.

Why it matters

The collection offers a broad view of Italian art from the twentieth century, from Futurism and Metaphysical painting to post-war Informal and Pop art. Its setting adds earlier layers: the palace retains an eighteenth-century decorative scheme, including a festival hall with a cycle based on Ovid and a family chapel containing a late-fifteenth-century Lamentation.

What to notice

Works include Ivo Pannaggi's Treno in corsa, Medardo Rosso's Ecce puer and Arturo Martini's Torso di giovinetto. Scipione's La Piovra appears alongside works by Mario Mafai and Raphaël. Futurist works include paintings by Boccioni, Balla, Severini, Depero and Prampolini; other holdings include works by Filippo De Pisis and Alberto Savinio. The Salone delle feste has a ceiling cycle based on Ovid's Metamorphoses. The family chapel contains Vittore Crivelli's Compianto su Cristo morto, and a stone staircase associated with Vanvitellian design links the palace's levels.

Context and history

A residence was built on this site in the later sixteenth century, on land that had belonged to the Cistercian abbey of Chiaravalle di Fiastra. In 1608 Cardinal Gregorio Petrocchini da Montelparo transferred it to his niece Girolama on her marriage to Antonio III Ricci; the Ricci family's ownership is dated to 1622 in the municipal account. Antonio IV Ricci remodelled the palace between 1763 and 1772, with Giovan Battista Capitani directing the work.

In 1976 the Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia di Macerata acquired and restored the declining palace. Fondazione Carima later established its representative seat there and installed its collection of twentieth-century Italian art. Period furnishings were recovered in the 1980s to replace pieces dispersed from the eighteenth-century interiors.