Built in the 17th century by the prelate Ulpiano Volpi, exponent of the Roman Curia, Palazzo Volpi was used as a court until the 1970s. It was designed by the architect Sergio Venturi, Sienese by birth but Roman by adoption, known above all for his bier of Pope Paul V. Today it houses the Pinacoteca di Como with works chronologically divided into four sections. The medieval section features a large number of Carolingian sculptures from the church of Sant'Abbondio as well as Romanesque and Gothic sculptures and frescoes. The Renaissance section offers a selection of Paolo Giovio's collection of portraits of illustrious men and significant objects related to the completion of the cathedral, such as stained glass windows, sculptures, tapestries and wooden models. The Paintings section presents a broad overview of the artists active in Como from the 16th to the 19th century with large altarpieces from churches suppressed in the Napoleonic era and paintings from private collections. The twentieth-century section presents photographs, paintings, sculptures and furniture prototypes that document the salient moments of Como's artistic creativity from the Futurism of Antonio Sant'Elia to the abstract art of the Como Group and the synthesis of the arts attempted by Ico Parisi.