The palace carries the name of the Donadoni, a family that came to Melfi from Bergamo. Geromino Donadoni, who lived in the first half of the 16th century, held the office of vice-governor here, and those were the years: in 1528 the French army of Odet de Foix sacked and burned the town, in 1531 Charles V took it back and had to repopulate it by edict with people from nearby villages and a colony of Albanians, while the fief passed to the Doria of Genoa. Running Melfi in that decade was no ceremonial post.
What to see
Today the palace houses the civic museum, and it works as an exhibition space rather than a permanent collection: what you find are shows of photography, sculpture and painting that change through the year. Which means that what you see depends on the month you turn up, and that the rooms of the palace count as much as the works on the walls: this is the residence of a family that ruled in Melfi, reused as a public building.
Visiting
Before putting the civic museum on your list, check that an exhibition is running, because between shows the palace can stay shut. It is the smallest of Melfi's three museums and takes little time: the other two are the Museo Archeologico Nazionale del Melfese, inside the castle, and the diocesan museum in the Palazzo del Vescovado, with church furnishings, silver and paintings from the 17th to the 19th century.
Our editors' tip
Do all three museums on the same day, in this order: the castle first, then the Palazzo del Vescovado, and Palazzo Donadoni last. You go from Daunian and Roman grave goods to the silver of the diocesan churches and end with what artists are showing right now, and by then Palazzo Donadoni no longer feels like the minor museum: it is the one where Melfi speaks in the present tense.