The Golden Gallery

The Golden Gallery , commissioned by Giovanni Andrea I Doria, is an example of great interest for the diffusion of this type of environment, that, according to the ideas of that period was convenient only to lords and great personalities in northern Italy. With an elongated shape and a sequence of windows on both sides facing the villa’s gardens, this long room, at the end of the XVI century replaced the giant’s hall in it’s representative purpose and as ceremonial and dynastic glorification centre of the villa’s life. From the construction contract we learned that the masters Battista Cantone and Luca Carlone erected” attached to the Fassolo palace on the western side… a GALAREA… with a chapel” and that the construction were supposed to be finished by July of 1595. In the years right after, a stucco master from Urbino, Marcello Sparzo, worked on the decoration of the vault characterized by central “reported paintings”, fanlights and wide peduccis. On these stand twelve standing figures, dressed as ancient warriors, representing famous members of the lineage, with a parallelism with the characters in the Lodge of the Heroes. Between these is recognizable Andrea Dorian who treads his foot on the head of a defeated Turk. In the gallery, defined Aurea (golden) for the vastness of the gold plating originally present, is exposed the important group of portraits of ancient members of the family, overlooking beautiful gold and wooden statues and lateral tables of the XVII century carved by the famous Genoese sculpture Filippo Parodi. The annexed chapel, stores a significant painting by Giovanni Battista Gauli- called “the Baciccio” indisputable protagonist of baroque art, born in Genoa but with a career he developed mainly in Rome- representing Saint Giuliano receiving the martyrdom palm, and executed between 1705 and 1706.