A Jacobite Gazetteer - Lazio

Soriano

The town of Soriano nel Cimino is located about 60 kilometres north of Rome. The town can easily be reached by bus or train from Viterbo.

Castello Orsini

At the highest point of the town is the Castello Orsini. In 1718 King James III and VIII was welcomed as a guest here by Cardinal Annibale Albani, and his brothers Carlo and Alessandro, nephews of the reigning Pope Clement XI. A Latin inscription on one of the outer walls records the visit: ¹

QVOD
IACOBVS III MAGNÆ BRITANNIÆ REX
ROMA VRBINVM SECEDENS
AD HANC ARCEM DIVERTERIT
ANNIBAL S·R·E·CARDINALIS CAROLVS ET ALEXANDER
ALBANI FRATRES CLEMENTIS XI P·M· NEPOTES
TANTI PRINCIPIS HOSPITIO DIGNATI
REGIÆ HVMANITATIS
MONVMENTVM P·P·
ANNO DNI MDCCXVIII

Inscription

The castle now serves as a prison. The inscription is exceedingly difficult to see since the gates to the area immediately around the castle are habitually locked.

Palazzo Chigi-Albani

Palazzo Chigi Albani

This palace, now largely in a state of disrepair, is located at the centre of the town. It was formerly called Palazzo Albani, and was the home of Carlo Albani, 1st Prince of Soriano nel Cimino and 1st Prince Albani of the Holy Roman Empire. This prince welcomed King James III and VIII when he entered the Papal States in 1717 (as recorded in a painting now in the Národní Gallery in Prague). The palace remained in the Albani family until 1848 when it was inherited by the Chigi family.

James III and VIII stayed in this palace at least twice. The first time was probably in 1718 as recorded in the inscription at the Castello Orsini (above). The second time was in May 1725 when James and his wife Clementina were on a villegiatura which also included visits to Caprarola and Orvieto.²

A photograph of the Sala della Stemma in the palazzo makes me think that one of the paintings may be a copy by Gill of the portrait of James III and VIII by Martin van Meytens. The painting hangs above a door on the wall opposite the window-wall. I have not been able to confirm this theory.

Notes

¹ Mary Jane Cryan, "The Secrets of Soriano", Affreschi: Exploring Etruria (Vetralla, Italy: Davide Ghaleb, 2001), 52.

²"Nobile Contrada Papacqua", http://art.supereva.it/papacqua/fontanapapacqua.htm?p, quoting Pennazzi, Istoria di Soriano (1734): "Nel suddetto delizioso palazzo si trattennero per alcuni giorni il Re e la Regina d'Inghilterra per la seconda volta che furono a Soriano, e fu nel mese di maggio del 1725." James and Clementina were in Rome, according to their custom, for the Feast of the Ascension, May 17, 1725 (cf. Cracas 1212 (12 maggio, 1725): 26; their return to Rome "dopo essersi trattenute molti giorni alla Villeggiatura di Caprarola, ed altri Luoghi circonvieini" is noted in Cracas 1221 (2 giugno, 1725): 12.

Image 3 (Palazzo Chigi-Albani): http://art.supereva.it/papacqua/fotocomplessomonumentale.htm?p.