Palazzo Mancini Salviati: Fasces & Fishes

Via del Corso, 271

A Detail of the Cornice of Palazzo Mancini Salviati

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On February 8th 1691, the Roman architect Carlo Rainaldi (b. 1611) died in his native city.

An example of his work is Palazzo Mancini Salviati, in Via del Corso, which he designed for Filippo Giuliano Mazzarino Mancini. The cornice of the facade of the palazzo is adorned with putti holding fasces or fishes. 
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A pike fish appears on the coat of arms of the Mancini family, while the fasces appears on that of Cardinal Giulio Mazzarino, whose sister Girolama married Michele Lorenzo Mancini.

Cardinal Giulio Mazzarino served as the chief minister to the kings of France Louis XIII and Louis XIV from 1642 until his death in 1661. In France he was known as Cardinal Jules Mazarin. His can also be see on the facade of the nearby church of Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio. 

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