The palace was built between 1586 and 1589 on behalf of Ottavio Imperiale, at the considerable expense of 50,000 golden crowns. The erudite Genoese aristocrat Giulio Pallavici reported that the beginning of its construction was one of the year’s most remarkable events.
When the palace passed over to the Sauli family at the beginning of the 1600s, it was enriched with magnificent decorations: a majestic statue of victorious Hercules holding the apples of the Hesperides, commissioned to Genoese sculptor Filippo Parodi; a series of frescoes known as “The planets’ gallery” by Domenico Piola, painted in the gallery overlooking the inner courtyard; a stunning picture gallery including some of the most important works of the Italian baroque era, painted by artists such as Orazio Gentileschi.
Following Lorenzo Sauli’s death in 1684, the property passed over to the De Mari family. They managed to conclude the second-floor decoration works, thus calling Bartolomeo Guidobono from Savona and Giacomo Antonio Boni from Bologna to fresco the remaining vaults.
The ground floor and the first floor of the building have been hosting a big warehouse for many decades (where it is still possible to admire a monumental statue by Parodi), while the frescoed apartment on the second floor can only be visited on special occasions.
Counted among the Palazzi dei Rolli even before it was completed, it was also mentioned by Rubens in his book 'Palazzi di Genova', a rich repertoire of reliefs of Genoese palace.
A pomegranate bush has been spontaneously growing on the gable of its portal for unmemorable time, thus giving origin to the name the palace is commonly known by in Genoa: Palazzo del Melograno (Pomegranate).