The vaulting in the salons and galleries were frescoed by some of the most important Baroque and Rococo artists, brought in by a succession of illustrious owners over the years.
The Duke of Genoa Anteroom, for example, a veritable camera picta (painted chamber), was directly commissioned by the residence's first owners, the Balbi family, who with great foresight and good taste engaged Valerio Castello (1624-16659), a key artist of the Baroque era in Genoa.
The favoured artist of the Durazzo family was Domenico Parodi (1672-1742), who was engaged continuously for over a decade, leaving some of his greatest work on the Palazzo’s vaulting, as demonstrated by the marvellous depiction of the Trionfo di Bacco (Triumph of Bacchus) over the entrance to the celebrated Galleria degli Specchi (Hall of Mirrors).
There are also other fine works frescoed by the hand of Giovanni Battista Carlone (1603-1680), by his son Giovanni Andrea (1639-1697), and by Lorenzo de Ferrari (1680-1744); and 19th-century works dating to the Savoy era, in some cases – such as the magnificent Salone da Ballo – overseen by Michele Canzio (1788-1868), or carried out by masters of the Accademia such as Giuseppe Isola (1808-1893) and Giuseppe Frascheri (1809-1886).
Regarding the subjects depicted, the images were not only intended as a clear reference to values to aspire to, but were also intended as a thinly-veiled celebration of the virtues of those who had commissioned them, through a pictorial style which carries a didactic, moralising, and openly self-celebratory message.