Palazzo Davia Bargellini - Museum

It is one of the very few buildings on Strada Maggiore that does not have a portico – a privileged feature that appears in the design of many senatorial palaces. For this reason, the façade assumed a predominant role among the street frontages, and elevated the rank and social status of the owners, in this case the Bargellini family.
The building, one of the most sumptuous of the baroque era, was begun in 1610, incorporating two existing properties. In 1638, Senator Astorre obtained permission to erect the façade, from a design by Bartolomeo Provaglia, featuring two stone telamons by the sculptor Gabriele Brunelli and his pupil Francesco Agnesini.
Work over the course of the century proceeded slowly and culminated in 1730 with the construction of the imposing staircase commissioned by Vincenzo Bargellini, for which numerous designs were produced. The designer of the staircase is currently identified as Alfonso Torreggiani, although some authoritative scholars attribute it to Carlo Francesco Dotti. The stucco decoration is by Giuseppe Borelli.
In the 19th century the property passed on to the Davia family and later, in the absence of heirs, it went to the Opera Pia, which still manages it. Since 1924, the Civic Museum of Industrial Art has been housed on the ground floor where it can be visited in its 1984 layout.