This room and the following two were renovated in 1797, during the
Napoleonic age, when the Municipal Palace was refurbished, in order to
house the new Republican Directory. This project was quickly abandoned
after the establishment of the new capital, Milan, of the Cisalpina
Republic.
The neoclassical decorations of the room, hidden during the 1930s, were
discovered in the 1980's. The present ceiling is decorated with panels
in the Neo-Pompeian style, showing fake monochrome reliefs against a
red and blue background.
These scenes represent triumphs and sacrifices, thus celebrating the
victory of the Republic. Over the doors, inside square frames, are
inscribed circles in false red marble bearing pairs of monochrome
figures, made to imitate antique cameo bas-reliefs.
The decorations, partly repainted in some areas, are believed to be
early works by the Bolognese neoclassical artist Pelagio Palagi.
