The Palace was born for Nicolosio Lomellino, cultured, up-to-date and very rich thanks to the trade of coral caught in Tabarca. Over time the building underwent various changes of ownership which contributed to transforming it until it reached its current appearance: in 1609 it passed to Luigi Centurione, then to the Pallavicini at the beginning of the eighteenth century, then to Baron Andrea Podestà in 1865. It was finally acquired by the family that still owns it today.

It was built between 1563 and 1569 by Bernardino Cantone, collaborator of Galeazzo Alessi on the construction site of the basilica of Nostra Signora Assunta in Carignano, based on a project by Giovanni Battista Castello known as il Bergamasco, an all-round artist, architect, painter and plasterer, who thought to an architecture organized on two main floors, open onto the Strada Nuova with an extraordinary atrium-hallway-courtyard sequence and with a façade entirely decorated in stucco, unique in the entire street; the stuccos of the facade and atrium are probably the work of Marcello Sparzo from Urbino.

The decoration of the rooms on the first main floor, entrusted in 1623 to Bernardo Strozzi, was commissioned by Luigi Centurione, frescoes believed to have disappeared for centuries and fortunately recently discovered and restored: the Allegory of the evangelization of the New World and, unfinished, the 'Allegory of navigation, spectacular for their chromatic richness and curiosity of subjects: Indians, exotic birds, hunting and cannibalism scenes.

The most striking element of the palace, also visible from the street, is the Nymphaeum, part of the updating of the decoration of the palace commissioned by the Pallavicini in the eighteenth century and entrusted to Domenico Parodi. Parodi creates a scenographic structure that connects the street level to that of the two hanging gardens, enriched with statues, fountains and caves that host mythological scenes.

The spaces on the second main floor were also renovated, extending towards the garden and decorated with frescoes by Domenico Parodi, Lorenzo De Ferrari and Giacomo Antonio Boni.

To find out more about the activities of the Palace and for all information for the visit, here is the link to the official website: https://www.palazzolomellino.org/ 

To learn more about the history of the Palace, here is the link to the information sheet on the Rolli e Strade Nuove website: https://www.rolliestradenuove.it/rollo/14-palazzo-di-nicolosio-lomellino/