G7 Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Meeting
Villa Madama and the Palazzo delle Finanze
A Renaissance villa designed by the great Renaissance artist Raphael hosted the working dinner that officially inaugurated the finance ministers' meeting. The villa was built in the early 16th century by order of Pope Clement VII (Giulo de' Medici), and -- just like the Palazzo Madama in central Rome, which currently houses the Italian Senate -- it owes its name to Emperor Charles V's daughter Madama Margaret of Austria, the wife of Alessandro de' Medici, whose property it became on the pope's death. It lies just outside the city walls on the slopes of Monte Mario. After the gloomy era of the Middle Ages, Roman aristocrats began to move out of their dank, fortified residences inside the city walls during the Renaissance in order to dally in more pleasant surroundings in their country villas.
While Raphael is responsible for the design of the Villa Madama, its building history was fraught with difficulties. Raphael himself died only a few years after construction work had begun. Then Charles V's Landsknechter looted and burned the villa during the Sack of Rome in 1527 while Pope Clement VII looked on from his refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo, weeping as he watched it go up in flames.
The Villa Madama was never completed to its full original plan, but despite that, it is still one of the most famous and frequently copied works of Renaissance architecture. It became the property of the Foreign Ministry in 1941 and is now used as a venue for hosting major events.
The venue in which the finance ministers' official meetings are to be held is the Palazzo delle Finanze, the largest and most majestic piece of real estate in the Italian capital after the Palazzo del Quirinale (the Italian president's official residence). The Palazzo delle Finanze was the first major complex to be built in Rome after the city became the capital of Italy. It was built by order of Finance Minister Quintino Sella in an effort to underscore the solidity and efficiency of the nascent Italian state. Work on the complex was completed in a mere five years, from 1871 to 1876, thanks to the dedication shown by leading artists from a variety of different cultural backgrounds, and it became home to the first ministry.
It originally housed all of the Finance Ministry's various derpartments: the Court of Accounts, the Secretariat General, the Duty Office, the Tax Office, the State Property Office and the Public Debt Department. Today it only houses the Economy and Finance Ministry proper.
The minister's office contains a famous desk made by celebrated carpenters from Biella and donated by Quintino Sella at the end of his third mandate as finance minister. The desk has been used by every finance minister then treasury minister since Sella, and it still used by the economy minister today.
The Palazzo also houses the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato's "Museo della Zecca", or Mint Museum, which is open to the public.
*Sources: Rome Municipal Authority and Italian Economy and Finance Ministry websites.
