Prosperi Sacrati Palace (Palazzo Prosperi Sacrati)

The building, known today as Prosperi Sacrati, was built in the autumn of 1492 for the court archiatra (physician) Francesco da Castello, who had purchased the land adjacent to the strategic junction of the Strada degli Angeli and the Strada dei Prioni, the most recent transversal road of the Herculean Addition. On 30 January 1493, while the foundation work was in progress, Duke Ercole I went to supervise the project. In 1494, a long dispute began between the masons in charge of the work and the commissioner: Biagio Rossetti was appointed supreme arbiter. In the meantime, work continued. In 1497, the two mason partners were condemned to pay compensation of over 1455 lire.

In 1512, Biagio himself was in litigation with the heirs of Francesco, who had died the previous year: it can be assumed – merely by way of hypothesis – that, in 1497, Biagio Rossetti had taken over as site manager from the previous contractors.

The most innovative element of the building is the fine portal: two free Corinthian columns overlap a polychrome stone entrance arch, flanked by Corinthian pilasters with angular leaves, extremely common in the contemporary buildings of the Addizione. The entrance is raised on a staircase, the columns rest on a pedestal and support a triumphal entablature, which, in turn, supports putti, on which a balcony rests. It is an extremely complex work of architecture, which has been attributed to various architects (from Biagio Rossetti to Antonio Lombardo).