Palazzo Barberini

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Recently restored, the splendid Baroque palace Palazzo Barberini houses the treasures of the National Gallery of Ancient Art, a permanent collection of about 500 works in 34 rooms. Masterpieces by the great masters of Italian and foreign painting, including Raphael and Caravaggio, and 18th century works that had long been stored for lack of space are now on view. They include works by Batoni, Mengs, van Wittel, Canaletto and Carriera.

Located in Trastevere, the attractive Corsini Gallery features a large collection of 17th and 18th century regional Italian painting (Roman, Neapolitan, and Bolognese schools) as well as works by Fra Angelico, Luca Giordano, Rubens, Murrillo, Poussin, Brueghel, and Caravaggio. The 17th century painting is particularly strongly represented with important groups of Bamboccianti (small cabinet paintings of Rome and its popular life), and artists specializing in landscapes. The Corsini Gallery also contains ancient and modern sculptures (the latter mostly from the famed Torlonia collection), bronzes, and 18th century furniture.

The museum, which occupies parts of the three floors of the palace, contains works by great masters of Italian and foreign painting, from the 11th to the 18th century, including Raphael and Caravaggio.

The Barberini family had already started to cede their collections in the 18^th century through sales made by the last descendant, Cornelia Costanza, wife of Giulio Cesare Colonna di Sciarra. The inheritance problems of the offspring who had to split the Barberini and the Colonna assets led to the division of the collections between the two branches of the family, as stipulated in an agreement signed in Paris in 1811.

Only in 1934 was the final dispersion of the collections completed, with the approval of the Italian State which, under a specific law, allowed the sale of the works of the trust in exchange for a small group of properties, giving up the tutelage of one of the most important Roman collections.

In 1984 the Corsini collection was returned to Palazzo Corsini, and works without an historic home returned to Palazzo Barberini. The idea was to create a true National Gallery, with a chronological order but with the possibility of including purchases – a different concept from the historical collections of Rome, with a structure more like major foreign museums.

The collection is rich with masterpieces, especially from the 16th and 17th centuries. The 15th century collection is incomplete, but a definite highlight is Filippo Lippi's painting of the Madonna enthroned with Child (1437). Among the 16th century collection, you'll find the famous Fornarina by Raphael, as well as paintings by Andrea del Sarto, Beccafumi, Sodoma, Bronzino, and works by Lotto, Tintoretto, Titian and El Greco, up to works from the school of Bologna and the end of the century represented by Judith cuts Holofernes' Head by Caravaggio. The 17th century is represented with works by Reni, Domenichino, Guercino, Lanfranco, Bernini, Poussin, Pietro da Cortona, Gaulli and Maratta. The 18th century collection is organized by schools, giving a rather complete and homogeneous idea of Italian painting of the period. A small group of rare French paintings from the 18th century completes the collection.

The elegant Villa Corsini is the central site of the three Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica (National Gallery of Ancient Art) exhibition locations.

The collections of the Corsini family began during the 17^th century with Cardinal Neri Corsini. Later, works were added by the branch of the family already established in Rome, thanks to direct purchases of Pope Clement XII, Cardinal Neri's nephew. In fact, the family received many gifts due to its preeminent social position.

In 1883, the State purchased the villa, and received the collections as a donation. The Corsini Gallery was only recently reconstructed as an autonomous entity, bringing most of the original materials back to their historic setting.

The gallery features a large collection of 17^th and 18^th century regional Italian painting (Roman, Neapolitan, and Bolognese schools) as well as works by Fra Angelico, Luca Giordano, Rubens, Murrillo, Poussin, Brueghel, and Caravaggio. The 17^th century painting is particularly strongly represented with important groups of Bamboccianti (small cabinet paintings of Rome and its popular life), and artists specializing in landscapes. The Corsini Gallery also contains ancient and modern sculptures (the latter mostly from the famed Torlonia collection), bronzes, and 18^th century furniture.

Once a confirmation code has been assigned to the reservation we can refund the cost of unused tickets minus a service fee (reservation fee and online booking fee) up to 3 business days before the visit. No refund is possible for a cancellation less than 24 hours before the visit, and for no-shows.