Restoration of Palazzo Farnese’s roofs and façades complete

A long restoration of the roofs and façades of one of Rome’s most magnificent and famous Renaissance buildings, Palazzo Farnese, seat of the French embassy, has been completed.

As Daniela Porro, special superintendent of Rome, put it, a four-a-side “dream team” of Italian architecture was responsible for the palace’s splendid façades, spanning the Renaissance and Baroque periods: Antonio da Sangallo, Michelangelo, Vignola and Giacomo Della Porta. Today, the French Embassy in Italy, the École Française de Rome and the Superintendency are celebrating the completion of the new restoration campaign for the palace’s façades and roofs.

€8.5 million funded by France

The French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the French Ministry of Education and Research allocated €8.5 million, covering all expenses, for the restoration. French Ambassador Anne-Marie Descotes said described the ongoing commitment and dedication to the palace’s care as highlighting the shared values between France and Italy.

Presenting the completed project, Descotes noted that the effort had been led by three women, alongside many other men and women who took part in what she called this long and immense undertaking, and thanked them all.

“Symbol of the Franco-Italian relationship”

Brigitte Marin, director of the École Française de Rome, said the palace could now be seen shining with unexpected splendour, and spoke of the joy of seeing it freed from scaffolding and reborn.

The restoration of the façades and roofs follows earlier work in Piazza Farnese carried out for the 150th anniversary of the French presence at Palazzo Farnese, on the occasion of the 2025 Jubilee, and before that for the Jubilee of the year 2000. The removal of the last scaffolding, on the Tiber-facing side of the building, has now revealed the full splendour of this major 16th-century architectural work, which France and Italy continue to care for jointly.