Few people know that immersed within the green heart of Rome, at Number 54 of the well-known Via Margutta, there is a fascinating courtyard, an address of fundamental importance in the history of the arts and social life of Rome. It is an evocative place that we have the privilege to cross every day and that every day tells us of its past, transmitting its antiquity.

As the plaque displayed on the walls of the street recalls, here, starting in 1858, Marquis Francesco Patrizi built a first complex consisting of two apartments used as artist’s studios. In 1884, a third one was added whose inaugural celebration was honored with the participation of the King who, after visiting the premises, was introduced to the artists.

Home to the Circolo Artistico Internazionale, this sumptuous venue has represented, from the Unification of Italy until World War II, one of the most significant cultural pages of Rome, intended to bring together protagonists from all over the world and representatives of all the arts.

From 19th-century dance parties to the masquerades of the early 20th century, and then again in 1917 when Pablo Picasso created several of his masterpieces here, the courtyard was the lively home of an innumerable number of artists, and still remains a place where you can perceive a fascinating aura filled with seductive artistic spirit.