Palazzo Campanella (Bell Palace), Genoa

Palazzo Campanella, also known as Palazzo di Cristoforo Spinola or Palazzo Baldassarre Lomellini, is located at number 12 in Via Garibaldi. Construction of the palace was commissioned by Baldassarre Lomellini, banker to King Philip II of Spain, and was started in 1562 based on a design by Giovanni Ponzello, the architetto camerale ("chamber architect") of Genoa, who also created Palazzo Tursi belonging to Niccolò Grimaldi, Baldassarre's son-in-law.

Left of the original 16th-century façade now is only the white marble portal, created by Taddeo Carlone, inscribed "venturi non immemor aevi" (remember the years ahead). However, the whole original appearance of the palace can be seen in the engravings of Rubens made in 1622.

The palace changed ownership several times throughout the 16th century, eventually passing into the hands of the Marquis Cristoforo Spinola, Ambassador of the Republic of Genoa to France, who commissioned renovation of the property in the then nascent neoclassical style in 1773.

The most famous work of that period was the so-called Salone del Sole, a grandiloquent masterpiece of architecture and decoration, inspired by the palace of Versailles in France. It became one of the most prestigious destinations of the Grand Tour, remembered by Stendhal and Flaubert. Sadly, the hall was gutted by bombings in 1942, and whatever remained of the original decoration was later removed and never rebuilt.

In 1917, the palace was bought by Tito Campanella who established here an office and residence on the second floor. Today, the first floor is open to the public, where it is possible to see frescoes inspired by Roman motifs, painted by Andrea Semino. On the second floor there are more frescoes, by Giovanni Battista Castello "il Bergamasco", depicting Stories of Aeneas and Dido, and a 19th-century room created in Romantic style by Michele Canzio.