Around 1430, Orsini built in the palazzo a "sala teatri" for his humanistic gatherings; it was the first permanent indoor theatre built in the Renaissance. Its walls were painted with an audience of illustrious personages of history, painted full-length in a cavalcade, row upon row, three hundred figures by the time the frescoes were completed, winding their way down the walls. Such a grand scheme was beyond the powers of Roman painters, whose skills and workshops had diminished during the Avignon Papacy, when the sources of patronage were removed from Rome. The Cardinal turned to the Florentine Masolino da Panicale, currently at work in Rome. The young Paolo Uccello also played a part in the enterprise.