The atrium of Palazzo dei Priori leads to the state rooms on the first floor. The Portraits Room is thelargest in the building and, after the Globe Room, was used until the end of the 18th century for theatre productions. It houses portraits of nine of Fermo’s cardinals, including Decio Azzolino the Younger, and those of twenty-one other illustrious men. These include the Portrait of Blessed Antonio Grassi, commissioned by the municipality in 1672 and created by the artist Pier Simone Fanelli of Recanati, after the death of the man who had been the head of Fermo’s congregation and had acted as peacemaker during the violent popular uprising of 1648. The citizens promoted his canonisation process although he was not beatified until 1900.
These pieces were part of the collection owned by Leo XI, who was Pope for only 26 days, and reached Fermo thanks to a fortuitous donation by Domenico Pinelli.
The Costumes Room houses priors’ robes and tunics and liveries worn by valets, trumpeters and knight bachelors, in use since the 17th century. In the antechamber to the Mayor’s Room, also known as the Coats of Arms Room, the city’s coat of arms dominates the centre of the vault. The legend – FIRMUM FIRMA FIDES ROMANORUM COLONIA – is a motto that probably dates from the Renaissance period and is still used today around the coats of arms of the area’s 48 municipalities.
The Mayor’s Room, used for official ceremonies and weddings, is elegantly furnished with precious and refined furniture and houses the municipal gonfalon or banner.
The Yellow Room houses precious pieces of furniture donated to the municipality and a display cabinet full of fine porcelain figurines (late 18th century) by the Ginori factory.
The Council Chamber is also known as the Council Chamber of the Eagle because of the ornaments representing the animal-symbol of the city. The 1762 perspective paintings decorating the vault are the work of Pio Panfili, who celebrated the academies that flourished in the city at the time through allusive architecture, symbolism and images.