Unable to purchase postcards for all our Caravaggio paintings at the Galleria Borghese, we decided to tour the Galleria Cornsini in hopes of viewing "John the Baptist" painting. We walked from the Borghese Gallery to the bus stop just on the other side of the park. Our group caught a series of busses and took a convoluted route to a bus stop at least a mile from the Cornsini Gallery. I don’t recall the bus numbers, not that I would recommend that transportation plan to anyone anyway. I did enjoy the additional scenery and energetic walk; however, taxi fare between the galleries would have only been about $5 a person (4 people to a cab) and I would have been out of the rain.
Cornsini Gallery is a small museum with about a dozen rooms. As we entered, one section of the marble steps was covered with a wooden ramp, an apparent addition for handicap accessibility. Two elevators stick out on the right side, taking us up to the gallery. Interestingly, the ramp and elevator appeared as "add-ons" and looked out of place. The gallery was adapting to handicap accessibility!
As with most museums, we checked our coats and wet umbrellas at the entry desk. There was an entrance fee of $1 per person. (One of the guide books used by our group stated that entrance was free, but the price has definitely increased!)
The rooms were large and spacious. One young artist was on the floor with a set of paints and touching up the frescos on the museum walls. I guess if the Sistine Chapel can be repainted, then other museums can keep up with their frescos!
This museum was very relaxing as the atmosphere was more casual. There were beautiful paintings of the Madonna and Child, and of course, there was the Caravaggio painting of John the Baptist. Although they are art-worthy, they were not as famous nor as much viewed as the artifacts at Borghese. There were only two other people (besides the workers) in the museum along with our group. We were able to take our time, not experiencing the hurried & rushed feeling as we did at the Vatican Museums and Borghese Gallery. After walking around the museum, we were able to purchase our tenth Caravaggio postcard, completing our "hunt". Hunt for Caravaggio Journal