The building was completed most probably around 1594 by architect Gaspare Corte on assignment of Giorgio Centurione, doge of the Republic from 1621 to 1622.

During the 18th century, the Centurione family handed it over to the Doria family, while in the early years of the 1800s it became property of the Cambiaso family, by then possessing several other buildings in the Lomellini district. The refurbishment of the internal spaces occurred in the 19th century involved the hall and the stairway of the palace.

The monumental entry portal kept its XVI-century features. The centre of its pediment hosts a sculpture depicting a Madonna with child. The fact that the palace was inhabited by Virginia Centurione (1587-1651) provides a further reason for the mansion to be particularly interesting in the history of Genoa. She was Giorgio Centurione’s daughter and wife to Gaspare Grimaldi Bracelli.

After her husband’s death, occurred in 1607, Virginia devoted herself to charitable endeavours, thus leading her to found a monastic order, supported by the generous endowment of philanthropist Emanuele Brignole, who had also commissioned the construction of the “Albergo dei poveri” workhouse. The order, bearing the name of Suore Brignoline, still exists to present days.

Virginia Centurione Bracelli was declared “Blessed” in 1985 and was later canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2003.