Rome Italy , Palazzetto Zuccari door entrance, via Gregoriana, Federico Zuccari, 1600 dc artist home ornamental doorway

---

Not many know that Baroque Mannerist painter and art historian, Federico Zuccari, bought the land in 1590 and built his studio and residence here in Rome in 1592. The building had later additions in the seventeenth century, transformations and adaptations in the eighteenth century and renovations in the early twentieth century. It was inspired by a visit to the Monsters Park of Bomarzo, the fairytale park built in the Lazio countryside near Viterbo. The artist in fact personally designed the doors and the windows in the shape of infernal mouths. Among these, the door on Via Gregoriana is a giant open mouth with the nose serving as the keystone of the house's entrance. This architectural choice, that was widely criticized but also greatly admired at the time, quickly earned the building the appellative of the House of Monsters.

---

Size: 3256px × 5741px
Location: Via Gregoriana, Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy
Photo credit: © Ian Rutherford / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: architectural, architecture, art, artistic, artists, attraction, building, door, doorway, entrance, exterior, face, funny, gregoriana, home, house, humour, italy, landmark, lazio, monster, monsters, mouth, ornamental, palazzetto, palazzo, quirky, roma, roman, rome, shape, spanish, steps, stone, stonework, street, structure, threshold, tourist, unusual, visitor, zuccari