By order of Louis XV, the Palazzo was acquired for France in 1725 and 22 years later it became the new residence of the French Academy in Rome, previously housed at the Palazzo Capranica. One second floor room is still frescoed with scenes copied from the Raphael Rooms at the Vatican Palace, produced by the artists accommodated by the Palazzo during its time as the academy. After the anti-French riots of 1793 and the assassination of Bassville, the academy left the palace. After the French Revolution the building became the French Embassy to the Holy See. In 1798 the academy returned to the Palazzo, but after the French defeat by Suvorov in 1799 the building was occupied and pillaged.
