In around the middle of the fifteenth century, the architectural concept of the “gallery” was born. It was a a prestigious place in the houses of the nobility, defined by the Accademia della Crusca as being: “a room to stroll through, where pictures and valuable items can be kept.” Giovanni Andrea I Doria constructed the gallery in Villa del Principe between 1594 and 1595 to make it the meeting point of the household: in fact, it was inaugurated for the arrival of Queen Margaret of Austria, who stopped off in Genoa before boarding the Doria ships and going to Spain to join her husband, King Philip III. The vault, decorated by Marcello Sparzo between 1597 and 1599, is characterised by a structure set upon five large frames, one of which was lost during the bombings of the second World War. Around these, rich stucco decorations are organised made up of allegorical figures, classical moulds and heraldic symbols. These sculptures, which today are faintly ochre in colour, originally had bright tones of green, dusky brown and sky blue. The decoration of the gallery, embellished with very rich and varied facings, represented the glorification of Andrea Doria and the exaltation of the dynasty. Running along the long walls, this is furthered with figures from The Twelve Caesars, probably images of ancestors of the Doria family in the clothing of the ancient Roman leaders. At the end of the room, on the short wall, there is Andrea Doria in ancient ruler’s clothes, in the act of kicking a Turk’s head. Thiscarries on the iconography created by Giovanni Angelo Montorsoli for his marble statue that was originally found in Palazzo Ducale and was subsequently moved after the damage caused during the Jacobean uprising at the end of the seventeenth century.
On display in the room is a luxurious crimson velvet furnishing with gold thread, that is reminiscent of the one at the time of Giovanni Andrea I Doria’s death, and was renovated in 1627, with the same colours and materials, to mark the occasion of the wedding of Giovanni Andrea II and Maria Polissena Landi. Among the numerous sixteenth and seventeenth century pieces of furniture that have historical ties to the builidng, the small number that can be attributed to the hand of Filippo Parodi, who was a master Genoese sculptor of the baroque style, and his workshop, stand out for their importance. Finally, and hailing again from the second half of the sixteenth century, there are two recently restored doors which are on the north side of the room. These objects are made with a yellow silken background, and embroidered with various shades of velvet, which create intricate intertwining garlands, leaves and flowers and are dominated at the centre by an impressive Doria crest.
To mark the occasion of the Doria - Pamphilj wedding celebrations in 1671, the building’s furnishings were updated, and Filippo Parodi created “two carved and gilded wooden statues”, in which he played on the heraldic theme of Triton holding an eagle, which bore obvious influences of Gian Lorenzo Bernini in its expressive power and delicateness of sculpture. Other pieces that are attributable to Parodi, but were perhaps worked on later towards the end of the seventeenth century, are: two candle stick holders depicting Triton and cherubs holding horns to blow into, four decorative spirals, and another two that bear images of an eagle and Saint Andrew’s cross. Above these there are some marble sculptures that were originally found by the fountain of Neptune in the western garden. Another couple of gold-plated candelabras take the form of dolphins and cherubs, backed by painted rocks. These were recently attributed to Ludovico Ayroldi, who was probably also responsible for the base of the table that shows four dolphins on a commissioned stone background.
The first table, immediately to the left of the entrance to the room, is set on a magnificent surface of commissioned stone, probably made in Florence or Rome. The technically perfect structure is given character with a border of wreaths and in the alabaster centre in which there are images of fish, birds, snakes and devils. The second table, at the head of the gallery, by the entrance to the chapel, is made of a coloured-marble surface and originates from the start of the seventeenth century. It was made in Genoa, as the use of locally-sourced stone and lack of definitive information of its origin seem to suggest. The two pieces were re-employed on carved and gilded wooden bases from the late sixteenth century.