JR installs giant trompe-l'oeil on Palazzo Farnese in Rome

French street artist JR (born 1983 in Paris) has created a large-scale mural on the facade of Palazzo Farnese in Rome, the seat of the French Embassy. The work, which appeared overnight, depicts a massive crack revealing a trompe-l'oeil interior of the Renaissance building, including its three-nave vestibule, barrel vaults, Doric columns, and the Farnese Hercules statue. This follows JR's earlier intervention on Palazzo Strozzi in Florence titled "La Ferita" (The Wound). The mural is part of a broader restoration campaign of Palazzo Farnese, scheduled to conclude in 2025, during which multiple artists are invited to work on the construction scaffolding. JR is one of the first to respond, following Olivier Grossetête's "Ponte Farnese" installation in July 2021, which featured a floating bridge held by hot air balloons. The restoration aims to restore the original materials used by the four architects who designed the palace: Sangallo, Michelangelo, Vignola, and Della Porta.