The property pages were last updated: 13-11-2008

The  "SCELLI" Studio in the town of Spoleto
16th century 'studio' with frescoed walls
and painted wooden ceilings

Description and historic background

MORE PHOTOS 

Located in the very heart of the historic centre of the town of Spoleto, in a small alley called Fiordispina Lauri, whose name bears the memory of a romantic and tragic love story between a young woman and her husband Filolauro Lauri who lived in a nearby Palazzo in the year 1500, a few steps from the Piazza del Mercato (in Roman times the forum), this enchanting Studio was an annex to the 16th century Palazzo Scelli. This building had its main façade onto the main road, Via Monterone (see photo), which was the urban part of the old Roman road called Flaminia, while the annexes were situated at the back.
The origin of the name of the complex is due to the pained coat of arms that represents three silver moons (in the Spoleto dialect, "tre scelle") on a red background (see photo). Local tradition has it that the small annex was the "professional studio" of Fedro Scelli who, towards the end of the 16th century, was such an eloquent lawyer to be nicknamed "Muzio Scevola" Scelli. He liked it so much that he added it to his own name and in his studio, he had the name painted on the wooden beam that supports the ceiling, "Fedrus Scevola A.D.MCLXXX ". See photo
The Roman hero as he is stoically placing his hand on the burning  brazier is also painted in one of the scenes.
The building: Two rooms for a total of about 60 square metres, a beautiful antique stone fireplace, three big windows and an enchanting small one that had been bricked up and that was reopened during the restoration, from which one enjoys a view over the late 18th century church of S. Ansano and the Arco di Druso e Germanico, dating back to the 1st c. A.D. See photo
The interior: While rather plain on the exterior, in the interior the building has beautiful frescoes on the top part of all the walls in both rooms and paintings on the wooden ceilings in blue with golden decorations. See photo
In the first room as one goes in, there are various scenes of Roman history divided by figures of 'putti' (see photo):
Orazio Coclite, the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus, Horatii and Curiatii, Lucretia, Muzio Scevola (see above), etc.
In the second room one can find represented themes from the Old Testament: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac, Noah rescued from the waters, etc.
Halfway between the sacred and the profane, this cycle of paintings, the work of a modest but skilled local painter (supposedly called Livi) has been preserved  as a unique document of an elegant taste that has fortunately survived to our present times.
Present condition of the building: After being the "refuge" of the Abbot Luigi Fausti, a local erudite, writer and in charge of the nearby Biblioteca Comunale (the local Communal Library) at the beginning of the 20th century, the small building was used as a store room for the art objects that Canzio Sapori, another erudite from Spoleto, collected throughout his lifetime. Its restoration has been carried out respecting and underlining the original features and characteristics of the place while at the same time creating a contemporary living space.
Restoration: The architect Giuliano Macchia from Spoleto has been the "advisor" rather than the director of the restoration of this building. A personal friend of the present owner, they share the same passion for the preservation of every possible piece of history of their beloved town.
Every original feature has been preserved, including the 19th century windows, and the only addition has been the necessary creation of a bathroom above which is a "soppalco" (mezzanine) that creates a lovely extra space bringing one in close contact with the frescoes of the upper part of the walls and of the wooden ceilings. The metal beams remind one of the colours of the frescoes (see the beams painted in the Babel tower scene). All the other modern additions such as the panel that separates the bedroom, the big kitchen partition, the fireplace screen, etc. have also been made to fit in with the colours of the frescoes.
Nowadays the restored apartment is like a small jewel, a proof of the talent of the artists / artisans from Spoleto basically unchanged since the 16th century. The unknown masters of the past have been approached with a sense of respect but without fear of comparisons by the restorers of the Tecnireco who have taken care of the work of consolidation and cleaning of the frescoes and of the painted wooden ceilings; by the decorators Giuseppe and Massimo Viti who have dealt with the painting of the walls, the artist Franco Troiani, the marble artisan Francesco Orfei, the carpenter Aleandro Pennella and his workshop, the ironmonger Isauro Medori, the building company Fratelli Menichini who have supervised the restoration work. All of them are from Spoleto.
 

MORE PHOTOS