it included two main loggias on the southern facade, an open theatre on the internal courtyard and Italian gardens that were to reach the main city walls opposite the Po River. Ultimately the planned building far overestimated the financial capacities of the Duchy, of both dukes and of the Farnese family itself (being a far larger palace than those built by other Italian families and even French and Spanish royalty), and even though subsequent Farnese dukes tried to continue the construction, it was finally declared finished in 1602. After the death of the last Farnese duke in 1731, the palace fell into disrepair. Restoration began only in the early 20th century and today the Palazzo Farnese at Piacenza houses an important series of museums and exhibitions. Ducal Chapel The Ducal Chapel (Cappella Ducale or Cappella Grande) was used by the family for its religious rites. It is a hall on a square plan, turned into an octagon by the introduction of four apses at the corners. The sides have the same length as the chapel's height up to the hemispherical dome. The chapel is decorated with lilies from the Farnese coat of arms and Mannerist masks portraying angels. Other symbols referring to the Ducal family such as the unicorn, starfish, dolphins and turtles, appear in the large frieze. Museums and exhibitions In the Archaeological Museum is the famous 'Piacenza Liver', an Etruscan bronze of a liver with Etruscan writing that was possibly used for haruspicy or divination by the reading of animals entrails. The Gallery or Pinacoteca is housed in the so-called "Duchess Apartments", on the first floor. It contains paintings from the 16th-17th centuries once belonging to the Dukes' collections. The most important artwork is the Madonna with the Young St John, by Sandro Botticelli. The museum was endowed in 2006 with the Collezione Rizzi-Vaccari. In consisted of 17 paintings and three sculptures from the 14th through 15th centuries, including works by Jacopo del Casentino, Andrea Bonaiuti, Simone de’ Crocifissi, and Giovanni da Milano. The Fasti Farnesiani ("Farnese's Splendours") Exhibitions Museum of the Italian Risorgimento Museum of Ancient Weapons, with 400 antique weapons and armours collected by the Piacentine nobleman Antonio Parma Museum of Coaches State Archives Collections of sculptures, frescoes, majolica ware, glassworks, and epigraphs, with works from the 12th to the 17th centuries. See also Palazzo Farnese, Rome Villa Farnese References External links Musei di Palazzo Farnese