This paper explores the involvement of Senator Giovanni Angelelli (1566-1623) with a network of residences in and
around Bologna, and discusses spatial appropriation as expression of political ambitions. Angelelli’s unanticipated
acquisition of the senatorial seat, marriage to wealthy socialite Isabella Ruini, and developing political career were counterpointed by an increasing interest in real estate, with the young Senator transferring his attention –and his residence- from one property to another to mark the different phases of his life. Through the analysis of archival documentation, contemporary documents, and on-site investigations this paper will discuss Angelellis’s ever-
changing spatial footprint throughout his life, and his choices as investor and patron in the wider context of his
increasing prestige. The discussion will include the modest townhouse of Angelelli’s infancy; the residence of his
father-in-law Antonio Ruini that he frequented as a youngster; the city palace that Angelelli purchased and had
decorated to publicly signal his new public role; and the simple estate and farm buildings in the Bolognese
countryside which he transformed into a stately residence. This paper positions these properties within the urban
and territorial context, and connects them through a network of daily, seasonal, and once-in-a-lifetime movements and relocations. I argue that this increased physical and symbolic occupation of the Bolognese spaces, culminating in the Senator’s funeral procession through the city to his final “residence”, matched Angelelli’s growing influence on the political scene. I also argue that the violent deaths of the Senator’s successors –ambushed outside their palaces and on the very streets he had confidently promenaded- and the resulting scattering of Angelelli’s properties, represented the response of a local nobility threatened by his abrupt surge to power and overambitious politic of spatial appropriation.