This palazzo stands in the square of the same name, to the left of the superb church and the old convent of the Dominican friars. The views of the square depicted in the 17th and 18th centuries bear witness of how the palazzo has changed. The obelisk in the middle of the square rests on a marble elephant, symbol of strength and wisdom, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and known as "Minerva's chick".

From 1849 to 1867 the French troops defending the independence of the Papal States after the fall of the Roman Republic were quartered here. It subsequently became the seat of the Pontifical Latin-American College, which required extensive alterations, supervised by Andrea Busiri Vici senior. When Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, the Ministry of Education was transferred here, until it was relocated in Viale del Re [today, Viale di Trastevere] in the mid-1920s.

It then housed the offices of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and later the Scientific Research Department. In 1991, Palazzo Minerva was transferred to the Senate, to house the new Library. The Senate Library, named after the late Senate President Giovanni Spadolini, was eventually moved here in spring 2003, after years of renovation work. The conference room on the first floor deserves a special mention. Its roof is made of plexiglas and steel. This hall houses the copper, bronze, white nickel and gold female figure cast in 2003 by Giuliano Vangi [the woman's downward look signifies, the artist explains, a love of silence and meditation].

The single-winged bronze angel in the adjoining church cloister is by Sandro Chia. The angel is raising a golden heart to the sky. In the intentions of the artist, this signifies that humankind should be united and sympathetic in order to attain its age-old aspiration to flight and freedom.