Nec minor est virtus, quam quaerere, parta tueri: [casus inest illic, hoc erit artis opus] Ovid, Ars amatoria, Book II, v. 13)
To preserve what has been obtained is more difficult than to conquer it, [there it is a matter of chance, here it is the work of talent].
(Marble epigraph preserved in the court’s skylight)
Built between 1730-40, it has been home for centuries to some of the most illustrious tenants: painters, architects, poets and politicians. In 1807, some of its rooms housed the Torlonia Bank, the real estate and industrial headquarters of those who made the history of Rome in the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century it was the home of the Castellani family, a dynasty of goldsmiths and art collectors.