Conference Suite and Tomasi di Lampedusa House Museum

From the grand marble staircase of Palazzo Lanza Tomasi you enter the South-West wing, which is home to the Conference Suite and the Tomasi di Lampedusa House Museum.

The central hall has a stunning frescoed ceiling dating from the end of 19th century, which depicts scenes of a harem in typical Orientalist style, and contains an impressive family collection of Louis XVI French fans. Under the fans glass case there is a Louis Philippe style sofa that was used by Luchino Visconti in his masterpiece Il Gattopardo.
When looking through the glass-cased fan collection of the main conference room, past the Historical Library and the Ballroom, the view stretches out over the verdant foliage of the waterfront to the sea.

On one side of the central hall we have the Mediterranean Map Room, which features another frescoed ceiling and a beautiful collection of British nautical charts from 1870 which used to belong to Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi’s grandfather’s yacht Louise.

On the opposite side, there is the Tomasi di Lampedusa House Museum with portraits of the author’s ancestors and noteworthy historical family documents and objects. Here one can admire the portraits of Prince Giulio Fabrizio Tomasi di Lampedusa, the author’s great-grandfather, an amateur astronomer and the model for the main character in Il Gattopardo. Also, on display below one of the portraits is an original 1790 British telescope; another model from the same manufacturer can be found in the Palermo Astronomical Observatory in the Royal Palace of Palermo.

A historically significant parchment document, dated 1638 and signed by King Philip III of Sicily (IV of Spain) giving the title of Dukes of Palma to the Tomasi family, can be seen hanging on one side of the wall. In 1637, Giulio and Rosalia Tomasi founded the town of Palma di Montechiaro, near Agrigento.

Below this, there is a cabinet which contains the catalogues of the historical library of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, recorded in the hand of the author himself: an index book pre-dating the Second World War, and a later tabbed catalogue which was created after the move to the Palazzo at 28, Via Butera.

On the opposite wall hang the portraits of members of the Tasca Mastrogiovanni Filangeri di Cutò family, ancestors of the author’s mother. Two glass display cases contain books and documents related to the 17th century ‘family saints’, Saint Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and his sister the Venerable Suor Maria Crocifissa. Also of great interest is an illuminated manuscript from 1654 which granted Duke Giulio Tomasi honorary citizenship of Messina.