The Sala degli Svizzeri was the first antechamber of the Papal Legate's apartment. It takes its name from the Swiss Guards that used to stand guard in this room.
In 1934-35, under the supervision of the engineer and art historian Guido Zucchini, major restoration work was carried on the ceiling, floor and frieze. The ceiling was restored by the painter Giovanni Costa (1934) who largely integrated the missing parts with modern mottoes, symbols and coats of arms of his own design.
The 17th century frieze was severely damaged during the building of a second ceiling (now removed) and again later, in 1877, when the battlement on the outside of the palace was redone; it was restored and partly repainted by Antonio Maria Nardi and Alberto Negroni (1934 - 35).
The frieze is divided up by several architectonic frames through which female figures representing the Virtues cast a downward gaze. The Virtues were based on Cesare Ripa's Iconologia. Monochrome telamones following the Carraccis' decorative repertoire are interposed between the frames. Carlo Cesare Malvasia, a Bolognese 17th century art historian, attributed the decoration to Giovanni Luigi Valesio, a pupil of the Carracci, who also worked as an engraver and miniaturist for the Anziani (the magistrates ruling Bologna) and for the University.
The frieze can be easily dated due to the arms of the most eminent ecclesiastical figures of the time as well as that of the town of Bologna. On the entrance wall is the coat of arms of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini (later Pope Urban VIII), legate of Bologna in 1611, while on the opposite side are those of the vice legate Lorenzo Magalotti, of Pope Paul V Borghese and of Scipio Borghese, archbishop of Bologna.
This decoration was probably commissioned by Cardinal Barberini himself who, on his arrival in Bologna, helped Valesio to obtain the job of decorating the apse of the San Domenico Chapel in the church of San Domenico. He was soon replaced by Guido Reni.
The bronze and copper statue of Pope Alexander VII Chigi, now in the Sala Farnese, originally stood in this room. It was produced in 1660 by Dorastante d'Osio, a Tuscan goldsmith. The statue was moved to the University Museums after the Napoleonic invasion and taken back to the Sala Farnese in 1845 during the restoration work to the palace, a decision by Papal Authorities in order to return the palace to its former appearance.
