In a crumbling and abandoned Rome palazzo restorers are scraping grey paint off the walls to reveal brightly coloured frescoes of pagan goddesses, bloody battles and proud Roman emperors.
“We knew this place was famous for beautiful frescoes in the Renaissance, and we are now discovering really high quality 16th-century work from the school of Raphael,” Daniela Porro, the city’s chief archaeologist, said.
So much of Rome’s history is still hidden from the public but things are changing at Palazzo Silvestri-Rivaldi where a €35 million refurbishment will write another chapter in the amazing life of a building that has hosted a pope and been a home for destitute women, American jazz musicians and hostage-taking communists before being abandoned.
The 4,000 sq m palazzo overlooking the
