page_title: Palazzo Alliata di Villafranca
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Palazzo Alliata di Villafranca / History
caption_attribution_description: Palermo, ITA
context_page_description: The Palazzo Alliata di Villafranca is a noble family's palace in the Palazzo Reale district of Palermo. It occupies the whole city block between the Cassaro and the back of Via dell'Università and the whole of a side of Piazza Bologni.
context_section_description: It originated in the 16th century as the home of the powerful Beccadelli di Bologna family, originally from Bologna but settling in Sicily during the Renaissance. One member of this family was Il Panormita, a famous poet of the late Aragonese court on the island. The family also gave its name to the piazza in front of the palace, previously known as the "Piano d'Aragona". 
  Between 1600 and 1650 the palace was acquired by the Alliata di Villafranca and it remained their main residence in Palermo until the late 20th century. In the following century the palace was rebuilt to its current late 17th century appearance to designs by the architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini.
  The monumental facade with two symmetrical doors recalls the era during which the building was used by the Kingdom of Sicily's postal service, as do a number of rooms on the ground floor. The two large stucco coats of arms by Giacomo Serpotta show the heraldic arms of the Alliata as Princes of Villafranca. A plaque on the centre of the main facade recalls Giuseppe Garibaldi's stop in the building in 1860:
  In questa illustre casa
  il 27 maggio 1860
  
  per sole due ore
  
  posò le stanche membra
  
  GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI
  
  ---
  
  Singolare prodezza
  
  fra l'immane scoppio
  
  delle micidiali armi di guerra
  
  sereno dormiva
  
  il genio sterminatore
  
  di ogni tirannide
  The palace houses one of the city's main art collections, including The Stoning of St Stephen and The Tribute Money (both painted in 1639 by Matthias Stom), a major Crucifixion by Anthony van Dyck, the 1791 Birth of Prince Giuseppe Alliata Moncada, son of Prince Fabrizio Alliata Colonna and Giuseppina Moncada Branciforte, with Abundance and Fame and with the Genius of Palermo Paying Homage by Desiderio De Angelis, Saint Joseph with the Christ Child (attributed to Pietro Novelli) and works by Francesco Lojacono, Mario Rutelli and Filippo de Pisis. The documents commissioning the Van Dyck are still in the family archive. As well as paintings on canvas and card, the building's art collections include drawings, prints and stucco medallions. The building's furnishings include mirrors, Murano glass chandeliers, elaborate over-doors, maiolica flooring (including the family coat of arms), furniture, vases, works in silver, bronze, porcelain and ceramic, classical archaeological finds, wax sculptures, geological samples, marble helmets and shields, lace and embroidery.
caption: Portantina.
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