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- Palazzo Massimo di Pirro
Description
Its name derives from a statue of the god Mars found during foundation excavations and mistakenly believed to be a depiction of the leader Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, defeated by the Romans in 275 BC near Beneventum.
Damaged by the Landsknechts during the sack of Rome in 1527, the palace was rebuilt in 1530 by Giovanni Mangone, a pupil of Antonio da Sangallo, and **decorated with frescoes on the entire facade, by Daniele da Volterra to celebrate the wedding of Angelo Massimo with Antonietta Planca Incoronati.**
The facade was restored, as indicated by the inscription on the lintels, in 1877.
On the ground floor **housed the first printing press in Rome**, opened by the two German printers, Arnold Sweynheym and Conrad Pannartz, pupils of Gutenberg, who had previously settled in Subiaco and received hospitality in Rome, precisely from the Massimo princes. The printing press began its activity by publishing, in 1467, the De civitate Dei by Saint Augustine.
Damaged by the Landsknechts during the sack of Rome in 1527, the palace was rebuilt in 1530 by Giovanni Mangone, a pupil of Antonio da Sangallo, and **decorated with frescoes on the entire facade, by Daniele da Volterra to celebrate the wedding of Angelo Massimo with Antonietta Planca Incoronati.**
The facade was restored, as indicated by the inscription on the lintels, in 1877.
On the ground floor **housed the first printing press in Rome**, opened by the two German printers, Arnold Sweynheym and Conrad Pannartz, pupils of Gutenberg, who had previously settled in Subiaco and received hospitality in Rome, precisely from the Massimo princes. The printing press began its activity by publishing, in 1467, the De civitate Dei by Saint Augustine.