The owners

The date of birth of Francesco Grimaldi, a member of one of Genoa’s oldest and most powerful families, is unknown. He had a brilliant career as a banker and leader in the service of Philip II, King of Spain. During the war for the conquest of Portugal in 1580, he served the sovereign and commanded cavalry troops. Before 1593, he began construction of his palace in Genoa’s Pellicceria district. He died in 1606, and inventories drawn up at the time recall that the building was already adorned with a rich collection. Of this collection, which was largely composed of tapestries, only a few paintings survive today.

Tommaso Grimaldi was born around 1600. When his father died, Francesco was still a child. In 1623, he married Dorotea Pallavicino and experienced several prosperous years. During this period, he commissioned the painter Lazzaro Tavarone to fresco some rooms in the palace. The scenes depicted celebrate the deeds of the Grimaldis’ ancestors and the military conquests of the Spanish Empire, to which the family was a loyal ally. However, in the following years, Tommaso accumulated large debts, perhaps due to his gambling habit. In 1650, five years before his death, he was forced to hand over his properties to his brother-in-law, Ansaldo Pallavicino.

Ansaldo was born in 1622. He was the son of one of the protagonists of Genoese public life in the early seventeenth century: Agostino Pallavicino. Agostino became Doge in 1637 and educated his son in politics and the arts. Ansaldo appears alongside his father in some paintings and was the first owner of the palace for which portraits are preserved. In 1648, Ansaldo married Teresa Lomellini and moved into the palace owned by Tommaso Grimaldi, the husband of Ansaldo’s sister. Two years later, Ansaldo became the owner of the house by covering some of his brother-in-law’s debts. In 1658, he financed the decoration of the Genoese church of San Siro. Ansaldo died in Brussels in 1660, aged just 38, while seeking treatment for health problems at the spa.

The son of Ansaldo, he was only one year old when his father passed away. Like his grandfather, Agostino, he became an ambassador and, in 1685, was sent by the Republic of Genoa to meet the King of England, James II. He then decided to take his vows and pursue an ecclesiastical career in Rome. He died in 1709, having named his sister Anna Maria Pallavicino as his heir. Anna Maria married Gerolamo Doria, and their son was named Paolo Francesco. Following his mother’s death in 1727, Paolo Francesco acquired ownership of the residence.

Maddalena Doria was the daughter of Anna Maria Pallavicino and Gerolamo Doria. She became the owner of the palace in 1732 when her brother, Paolo Francesco, died without having married or had children. Thanks to her initiative, the residence underwent the largest decorative renovation in its history. Maddalena’s husband, Nicolò Spinola, was a prominent figure in Genoese politics. In 1740, he was elected Doge of the Republic. Before her death in 1760, Maddalena bequeathed the palace to her eldest son.

Francesco Maria Spinola was born in 1702 to Maddalena Doria and Nicolò Spinola, who came from the San Luca branch of the family. In 1734, the year his mother began significant restoration work on the palace, he married Maria Giulia Fieschi, known as Lilla. However, they had no children. His eldest son, Pasquale, suffered from mental health problems, and his brother Paolo Francesco was infertile. In the 19th century, the palace was inherited by another branch of the Spinola family, the Spinola di Luccoli. They were related to the original owners through Lilla’s sister, Maria Teresa Fieschi, who married Giovanni Battista Spinola di Luccoli in 1790.

Paolo Francesco Spinola nasce nel 1746. Vive una vita agiata, frequenta circoli culturali e viaggia molto. Nonostante si sposi due volte, la prima con Maria Brignole e la seconda con Geronima de Mari, entrambi i matrimoni vengono annullati a causa della sua impotenza. Soggiorna spesso fuori da Genova, tra Roma e Pisa, ma mantiene un rapporto costante con la dimora di Pellicceria. Paolo Francesco vive in prima persona gli anni turbolenti della Rivoluzione Francese e della caduta della Repubblica di Genova (1797). Muore a Pisa nel 1824, dove viene sepolto, lasciando in eredità il Palazzo genovese al cugino Giacomo Spinola.

Giacomo Spinola, a distant relative of Paolo Francesco, was born in 1780. He grew up in the family palace in Via Luccoli, where he continued to live after marrying Violantina Balbi in 1802. Violantina was a cultured woman and an amateur painter. She was also the heir to an important heritage of goods and works of art. In 1824, the couple moved to Palazzo Spinola, where they amassed their collections. Meanwhile, Genoa had become part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. Giacomo aligned himself with the politics of the Savoys, and Violantina became the queen’s lady-in-waiting. The couple lived a comfortable life, united by a strong religious faith.

Francesco Gaetano was born in 1819, the only son of Giacomo and Violantina. He married Teresa Centurione Scotto in 1849, and they had numerous children. Following his father’s death in 1858, Francesco inherited a substantial estate. In the late nineteenth century, the first exhibitions of ancient art began to be organised in Genoa. Francesco Gaetano participated by lending works from his collection, housed at Palazzo Spinola, on several occasions. This is how the treasures of the home began to be known to a wider audience.

Ugo Spinola, the eldest son of Francesco Gaetano, married Solferina Serra in 1877. The couple did not move to the Pellicceria residence until 1905. However, they soon decided to move to Villa Spinola in San Michele di Pagana, by the sea. Ugo built on the family fortune by diversifying into new areas of business, such as managing real estate and land holdings where wine was produced for export overseas. Ugo and Solferina’s life was poised between tradition and modernity. They came into contact with new fashions and leisure activities from England. Solferina played tennis and cycled, while Ugo enjoyed motoring and sailing.

Franco was born in 1878 and received a prestigious education. He studied in Genoa and Turin, before enrolling at the Royal Naval Academy of Livorno in 1896. He soon embarked on a successful military career, travelling the world and participating in various military operations. He fought in both world wars and was discharged with the rank of admiral. He never married and spent much of his life living at the seaside villa in Pagana. On 31 May 1958, a few days before his death, he and his brother Paolo signed the deed donating the palace and its collection to the Italian state. However, he decided to leave the San Michele di Pagana villa to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, of which he was a member.

Paolo Spinola seems to be the family rebel. Born in 1880, he enrolled at the Faculty of Chemistry but did not complete his studies. His older brother’s absence forced him to follow his father, Ugo, into the family business. In 1910, he married Virginia Peirano, the daughter of a Ligurian shipowner who was born in Romania and raised in London. After a few years of passion, trips to exclusive destinations and extravagant shopping sprees, the marriage broke down. In 1923, the couple obtained a divorce in Fiume, after which Virginia quickly remarried the wealthy Englishman Stephen Courtauld. Paolo then formed a lifelong bond with the actress Hydée Urbani, who abandoned the stage for him. Following Paolo’s death in 1969, the family home became a museum ten years ago.