<P> Located in the heart of the city, in a district known in the 17th century as the "Contrada del prestino (oven) dei Bossi", Clerici Palace firstly belonged to Battista Visconti and was bought by the Clerici's, a family of silk merchants and bankers from the Como Lake, only towards the middle of 1600 (about 1653). </P> <P> The Austrians, indeed, entrusted the Ducat's internal governance to Clerici's Family, who therefore needed a mansion house in Milan and the palace subsequently became one of the most sumptuous, luxurious residences in the city . In 1740 Giorgio Antonio Clerici asked Giambattista Tiepolo to crown his success and achievements by frescoing the main room of his palace . Upon his death, Palazzo Clerici passed into the hands of a secondary branch of the family; it is in this period, to be precisely between 1773 and 1778, that Archduke Ferdinand of Austria lived here, while he waited for Palazzo Reale to be finished . The names of some of the most sumptuous and richly decorated rooms, like the Boudoir and Maria Theresa's bedroom, can be dated to these years . </P> <P> After Napoleon's fall it was ceded to the Austrian government and became the seat of the Court of Appeal in 1862 . Finally, in 1942 it was handed over to ISPI, the Institute of International Political Studies, and the Institute is still today located here . </P> <P> The traditional aim of ISPI research is to survey the political, strategic and economic trends in the international system . The core research section contains the final publication of projects conducted by ISPI at times jointly with other institutes . The results of ISPI research projects are circulated in the quarterly Ispi - Relazioni Internazionali, which also publishes previews and synopses as well as in a series on international issues entitled Policy Brief . </P>

Institute for international political studies (ispi) (italy)