The Sala dei Cavallegeri was the second antechamber of the papal legate’s apartment, where his escort of Cavalleggeri (Light Cavalrymen) stood guard.
The ceiling was extensively restored in the 1930s.
Immediately below the ceiling there is a Bolognese-style frieze attributed to Lionello Spada ( Bologna, 1576-1622 ), the tromp l’oeil decoration shows three-dimensional telamones (athletic male figures used as supporting pillars) that seem to support the beams, an homage to the Carracci tradition.
Between the figures you can see rectangular panels with dragons and eagles in tangles of acanthus, note also the golden bees, a symbol of the Cardinal Legate, Maffeo Barberini.
The shorter walls are decorated with the coats of arms of Pope Paul V Borghese, of the City of Bologna, of the legate, of the vice-legate and of the archbishop.
Around 1850 this room was renovated and decorated with coats of arms, to match the nearby Sala Urbana. On this occasion a monument to Pope Pius IX, now lost, was placed here. From 1852 the room was renamed after the Pope, Aula Piana.
