Palazzo Contucci (Montepulciano)
Palazzo Contucci is to be found in Piazza Grande, opposite the City Hall and alongside the Cathedral and Palazzo Tarugi. Started in 1519 by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder and commissioned by the Del Monte family (whose heraldic device is still visible on the right-hand corner of the building at first-floor level) it was probably completed by Baldassarre Peruzzi. The building rises above the remains of the earliest city walls, which explains the massive height of the back of the building.
The first floor grand hall, opening onto the piazza, was entirely frescoed by Andrea Pozzo (1642-1709) in 1702. It is one of the few surviving examples of a profane cycle by the Jesuit from Trento, the undisputed master of Baroque illusionism.
Palazzo Ricci (Montepulciano)
Palazzo Ricci was commissioned around 1535 by Cardinal Giovanni Maria Ricci, a
member of one of the oldest noble families in Montepulciano, from the celebrated
architect Baldassarre Peruzzi (1481-1536), It remained in their family until 1970, when it
became the Montepulciano City Hall, and then 2001 it was made available, for thirty years,
to the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, which has made it into the headquarters of its
European Academy for Music and Art.
Poliziano Theatre (Montepulciano)
The Poliziano Theatre was built to a commission of the Academy of the Intrigati at the end of the 18th century; designed by Giuseppe Valentini, it was completed in 1796. Major modernizing works were undertaken by the architect Augusto Corbi together with the painter Rotellini and the decorator Franci; the last restoration project, financed by the City Hall, was carried out by architects Alberto and Giuseppe Samonà in 1980.
