A new cultural organization has been operating in Rome: the Fondazione Memmo. Established January 24 1972, the Fondazione is due to the genius of Mr. Roberto Memmo, business man and universally renown patron and collector of art. Its location is in one of the most prestigious buildings in the historical centre - Palazzo Ruspoli. Thanks to the initiative of Roberto Memmo, who has in great part bought the building, the "palazzo" has been greatly consolidated and restored and given in bailment to the Fondazione in 1975.

Palazzo Ruspoli

Built shortly after the first half of the '500 by the Jacobilli, the Palazzo was expanded by the banker Orazio Rucellai under the supervision of Bartolomeo Ammannati (1511-1512), the Florentine architect responsible for the nynpheum in Villa Giulia in Rome and for the courtyard of Palazzo Pitti in Florence. In 1629 the Palazzo became property of the Cardinal Luigi Caetani. A new storey, designed by Bartolomeo Breccioli, was added as well as a beautiful marble staircase by Martino Longhi il Giovane (1602-1660) considered one of the marvels of Rome. Bought in 1713 by the Ruspoli family, the Palazzo was extended along via Bocca di Leone all the way to via del Leoncino (c. 1780). The Palazzo's interior is just as impressive. Aside from a series of rooms with friezes, the grandiose gallery frescoed by Jacopo Zucchi (1541-1589) representing the Genealogy of the Gods, is one of the masterpieces of Florentine mannerism in Rome. The entertainment apartments of the first and second floors, which house the Zucchi Gallery, are furnished with paintings, sculpture and furniture of high quality. All these masterpieces, some of which were already in the Palazzo and property of the Ruspoli family, are today part of the Memmo collection.

Fondazione Memmo

Aside from the sumptuous arrangement of the first two floors flanking via del Corso, two marvellous exhibition spaces have been obtained from the mezzanine (Galleria Rucellai) and ground floor (Galleria Caetani) of the Palazzo. In addition, the enchanted garden, mentioned in antique sources and at one point suppressed by the construction of the Étoile Movie Theatre, has been rehabilitated on the level of the terraces of the first floor. A third exhibition hall (Scuderie / Stables of Palazzo Ruspoli) has been obtained from the suggestive spaces near via Fontanella Borghese which flank the Palazzo's secondary courtyard. From 1990 the cultural initiatives promoted by the Fondazione have multiplied themselves at a growing pace and importance. The not exclusively Roman public has demonstrated to particularly appreciate the art exhibitions which have taken place in the most beautiful private gallery of the historical centre. In December 1990 an exhibition was presented on Expressionism from Van Gogh to Klee, illustrated through the masterpieces of Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza's collection.

In 1991 an exhibition entitled "The Mark of a Genius: A Hundred Drawings from the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford", was presented including works by Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer and many other famous Italian and foreign artists all of exceptional quality. This was followed by an exhibit on the British painter Lucien Freud including paintings coming from private and public collections. At the end of the same year a double exposition coming from the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg was presented. The Hermitage owns the greatest number of sculptures by Antonio Canova among which fifteen works in marble. Most of these masterpieces were loaned for the first time to Rome in an exhibition that would shortly after go to Venice. Along with these works was displayed a collection of terracottas of Italian artists of the XVII and XVIII centuries, gathered at the end of the '700 in Venice by the abbot Filippo Farsetti, and also belonging to the Hermitage. This collection was displayed in its entirety for the first time at Palazzo Ruspoli.

In 1992 an exhibition of works by Caravaggio, entitled "Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio: how masterpieces are born" was presented in the Galleria Rucellai. Promoted by the Fondazione Longhi, this exhibition was transferred from Florence to Rome and enlarged with paintings which were not part of the original Florentine venue. These additions were in reality substitutions for works that could not be included in the Roman venue, such as I bari (The Swindlers) already in the Sciarra collection and now in the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Knox (USA). An exhibition organised in accordance with the Ministry of Culture followed and presented a series of antique marbles of the Boncompagni-Ludovisi collection, for many years in storage at the Museo Nazionale Romano. The main characteristic of these sculptures is not only that of being masterpieces of Greek and Roman art, but also of having been restored by great artists of the Baroque period such as Bernini and Algardi.

From December 1993, the activity of the Galleria Caetani began in conjunction with the programming of the Galleria Rucellai.The Palazzo's second exhibition space, situated on the ground floor, was completely restored and redecorated by the Fondazione Memmo. This space was inaugurated with an exhibition of water-colours from the Chigi collection, in part coming from the Frick collection in New York. This was followed by an exhibit on Franco Zeffirelli's set designs, and then by an exposition of drawings for the mosque in Rome by Paolo Portoghesi.In 1993 the activity of the Fondazione Memmo continued housing 22 famous paintings in an exhibition entitled "Paintings of the Italian '900" belonging to the Assitalia Collection. This was followed by a retrospective on Mino Maccari, which included 115 paintings and 55 drawings of the artist.

In 1994 the Fondazione Memmo opened by presenting 120 works of early century Italian painting in an exhibition entitled "The Postmacchiaoli". Always in Palazzo Ruspoli, as it is already mentioned, is a third gallery - the Scuderie. This exposition space houses exhibits of contemporary art.

The most important Italian exposition of the 1995 was "Nefertari: Light of Egypt", which has attracted over 480,000 visitors. Organised in collaboration with The Getty Conservation Institute, which co-ordinated the conservation work done on the Nefertari tomb wall paintings, this exhibition collects, for the first time together, works belonging to Nefertari's tomb furnishings and other materials of the Ramesside period coming from the British Museum, the Louvre, the Royal Library of Turin and the Egyptian Museums of Turin and Florence. The exhibition is also a tribute to Ernesto Schiaparelli, the Italian archaeologist who discovered the tomb in 1904.

The most visited Roman exhibitions of the 1996 were "Alexander the Great: history and myth" organised by The Fondazione and "Macedonians - Northern Greeks" organised by the Greek Ministery of Culture. The exhibitions were transferred to USA.

The Fondazione Memmo owns extensive real estate and has annual profits that enable it to organise of cultural manifestations, to acquire works of art and to grant scholarships. As one can easily deduce, in only a few years of activity, the Fondazione Memmo has established, thanks to the genius of its devisor, a series of spectacular manifestations. However, we need to underline the Fondazione's most important endeavour - the restoration of one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings in Rome, and its utilisation for important cultural activities. This is the major guarantee of the high quality that will surely distinguish every event that will take place at Palazzo Ruspoli in the near future.