Maria Kazimiera Sobieska spent fifteen years in Rome. In the space of the Eternal City, there are only a few modest reminders of her stay there to this day. The most visible sign remains her coat of arms in the portico of the Palazzo Zucarri in the Piazza della Trinità dei Monti.

In search of a residence

Upon her arrival in Rome in 1699, Maria Kazimiera took up residence at the Palazzo Odescalchi in Piazza dei Santi Apostoli. In July 1701, she purchased Villa Torres (now Villa Malta), located on the slope of the Pincio hill and surrounded by gardens. However, the place proved too small to accommodate the queen and her court, as well as her family: her aged father, Cardinal Henri de la Grange d'Arquien (b. 1613), and sons Alexander Benedict (b. 1677) and Constantine Ladislaus (b. 1680), who had arrived in Rome in 1700. She eventually located her father in Casa Stefanoni in via Felice (now via Sistina), and in parallel received permission from Pope Clement XI to take some parts of Palazzo Zuccari. Although Francesca Ceci claims that the Queen leased certain rooms in the palazzo as early as Easter 1700, she undoubtedly rented part of the building on 31 July 1702 in order to settle the sacramental Benedictines there. Their convent and church were located on the side of via Felice. Several of Maria Kazimiera's rooms were to be located next to the space allocated to them. The nuns arrived in Rome on the night of 6 to 7 October 1702.

A few days earlier, permission had been given for the construction of a wooden bridge over via Felice, connecting Palazzo Zuccari with Casa Stefanoni, from which there was already access to Villa Torres and its gardens. In May 1703, the Queen still bought a villa under the city on the Porta Pia side. She thus had everything a true aristocrat in Rome should have: a city palace (Palazzo Zuccari), a suburban villa (Villa Torres), a villa outside the city walls (the villa on the Porta Pia side) and a private chapel (at the sacramental convent in Palazzo Zuccari). Her properties were close to each other and efficient communication between them was ensured by a wooden bridge over via Felice. This practical and 'tailor-made' solution was undoubtedly due to the Queen's limited financial resources.

From Easter 1703, both she and the members of her large court were registered in the books of the parish of San Andrea delle Fratte, meaning that Palazzo Zuccari then became the Queen's main residence. Its undoubted advantages were its good location near the city centre and the Popes' residence on the Quirinal and the healthy air on the Pincio hill. However, the building often proved too small for the representational needs of John III Sobieski's widow, so for larger audiences Maria Kazimiera continued to use the rooms in the Palazzo Odescalchi; there, for example, she received the Christmas and New Year greetings of members of the Holy College.

Palazzo Zuccari in Maria Casimire's time

Palazzo Zuccari was built at the end of the 16th century for the painter Federico Zuccari and occupied a plot of land between the recently laid out via Felice and via Gregoriana. As a result of successive transactions and divisions a century later, it remained in the hands of four different owners. Maria Kazimiera Sobieska tried successively to enlarge her part of the palace until 1707. However, some refused to sell it, e.g. she never succeeded in acquiring the rooms decorated with frescoes by Federico Zuccari.

The Palazzo Zuccari and its surroundings became the scene of various cultural and religious initiatives undertaken by Maria Kazimiera. One of the most magnificent celebrations took place on 10 June 1703, three days after the visit of Pope Clement XI to the convent of the Sacramentaries. The façades of the convent and the church on Trinità dei Monti were decorated with tapestries showing the military triumphs of King John III Sobieski, given to the Queen by her son-in-law, Maximilian II Emanuel Wittelsbach. Wooden letters forming the name 'M.Casimir' were hung on the windows of Casa Stefanoni, lit by torches. It was also in this year that serenades were held for the first time on the wooden bridge over via Felice. These musical performances soon became a tradition eagerly awaited by the Romans, and the venue became known as the Arco della Regina (Queen's Arch). From 1704 onwards, musical performances were also organised inside the Palazzo Zuccari. They were most likely held in a relatively large room on the first floor, with an area of about 80 square metres and a height of about 7.60 metres. Processions were also organised around the palace to the Trinità dei Monti church.

All these ceremonies and undertakings provided an opportunity to manifest the social position of the queen-widow of John III Sobieski. Remembering his merits for saving Christianity provided Maria Kazimiera with prestige and esteem, so every year on 12 September, the anniversary of the Battle of Vienna, she decorated the palace with torches or organised a fireworks display. Her correspondence with her son James Louis shows that she planned to decorate the interior of the Palazzo Zuccari with al fresco paintings depicting the deeds of her late husband. However, these intentions were not realised.

Alexander Sobieski takes over

In 1708, the convent of the Sacramental Sisters at Palazzo Zuccari was abolished and Maria Kazimiera began to consider leaving Rome. However, her son Alexander Sobieski settled permanently in the Eternal City and devoted himself to literary, musical and artistic initiatives. It was he who gradually influenced the repertoire and selection of artists for the theatre at the Palazzo Zuccari, and his energy undoubtedly prompted his mother to prolong her stay on the Tiber. Perhaps it was on his initiative that the so-called tempietto was added to the façade of the palace from the side of Piazza Trinità dei Monti in 1711. The four-column portico was intended not only for aesthetic and representative functions, but also as a balcony for the orchestra. In its interior, above the door to the palace, a crowned cartouche was placed. It features the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania (White Eagle and Pogo), and in the centre, in the heart field, the Sobieski family coat of arms with the Janina shield and the coat of arms of the de la Grange d'Arquien family with three stags. The designer of the tempietta is usually considered to be Filippo Juvarra, who created the scenery for the reenactments at Maria Kazimiera's court, although the authorship of Ludovico Gregorini or Matteo Sassi is not excluded. It may also have been on the initiative of Alexander Sobieski that another room was created for musical performances, this time in the Villa Torres.

19 June 1714. Maria Kazimiera left Rome and moved to France. Exactly five months later, Alexander Sobieski, seriously ill with gout, or rheumatoid arthritis, died in the Palazzo Zuccari. The Arco della Regina on via Felice was demolished in 1799. Today, the only reminders of the Polish queen in Palazzo Zuccari are her monogram in a room of the former chapel and her coat of arms in a beautiful tempietto, perfectly visible from the top of the famous Spanish Steps.