The (National Gallery of Ancient Art), has been housed in the stunning Palazzo Barberini since 1949. Just to the east of Piazza Barberini, this beautiful palace occupies the site where a vineyard, Vigna Sforza, once stood. Constructed for Maffeo Barberini, who became Pope Urban VIII, Piazza Barberini was designed by Carlo Maderno. But when Maderno died in 1629, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini completed the work, adding design elements of their own as the structure was completed.
Purchased by the Italian government to house the museum, part of the building still serves as the officer’s club of the Italian army. The palazzo’s interior features a helicoid-shaped staircase and great hall, which Pietro da Cortona labored over for 6 years between 1633 and 1639. Currently, the site is in the throes of a major renovation. So major, in fact, that it was difficult for us to find our way inside.
We located the massive front gate along Via delle Quattro Fontane, then wandered past pallets of building materials in search of the entrance. We found what looked like the unlocked main entrance with nary a soul to be found, then walked down a flight of stairs to the coat-check room—-or at least that’s what it used to be—again, not a museum employee in sight. Finally, we discovered the entrance on the second floor. Museum personnel, dressed in jeans and T-shirts, gave further indication as to the museum’s current state of affairs.
Some of the notable pieces include works by Fillipo Lippi, a small diptych by El Greco, Bartolomeo Manfredi’s , and some incredible paintings by Caravaggio, including , , and . The canvases of St. Francis and Judith Beheading Holofernes are both visible on the right in the photo.
Perhaps the museum’s most famous painting is Raphael's enigmatic , reputedly a portrait of a baker’s daughter from Siena who was his mistress and the model who posed for his Madonna portraits. Raphael is said to have been so smitten with his beautiful mistress that his obsession may have led to not only the genesis of this canvas, but also to his untimely demise at age 37. Some sources contend that Raphael’s infatuation distracted him from his work and that his sexual exploits caused the fever that killed him.
Other notables in the collection include works by Bernini, Titian, Francesco Francia, and Hans Holbein.
Given the museum’s current state of disarray, I can only recommend it to those who are serious enthusiasts of some of the works in the collection. I’m sure it will be a more pleasurable and user-friendly experience when the current renovation project is completed. Nonetheless, the palazzo itself is worth checking out, if only for the views of its exterior.