Piazza Barberini

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Geo: 41.8955, 12.4823

From Wikipedia:

The site had formerly been occupied by a garden-vineyard of the Sforza family, in which a palazzetto had been built in 1549. It has passed from one cardinal to another during the sixteenth century, with no project fully getting off the ground.

When Cardinal Alessandro Sforza met financial hardships, the still semi-urban site was purchased in 1625 by Maffeo Barberini, of the Barberini family, who became Pope Urban VIII.

Three great architects worked to create the Palazzo, each contributing his own style and character to the building. Carlo Maderno, who at the time was working on extending the nave of St Peter's, was commissioned to enclose the Villa Sforza within a vast Renaissance block along the lines of Palazzo Farnese; however, the design quickly evolved into a precedent-setting combination of an urban seat of princely power combined with a garden front that had the nature of a suburban villa with a semi-enclosed garden.

Maderno began in 1627, assisted by his nephew Francesco Borromini. When Maderno died in 1629, Borromini was passed over and the commission was awarded to Bernini, a young prodigy then better known as a sculptor. Borromini stayed on regardless and the two architects worked together, albeit briefly, on this project and at the Palazzo Spada. Works were completed by Bernini in 1633.

After the Wars of Castro and the death of Urban VIII, the palace was confiscated by Pamphili Pope Innocent X and was only returned to the Barberini in 1653.

From me:

Another amazing palazzo that has been opened to the public to share some of the most incredible art in the world. The architecture of this palazzo is very beautiful with a spectacular entrance-way and famous staircases by Bernini and Borromini.

Most of the ceilings in each of the salons are graced with frescos by more famous artists: Pietro da Cortona's masterpiece, the Baroque fresco of the Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power.

The rooms of the piano nobile have frescoed ceilings by other seventeenth-century artists like Giuseppe Passeri and Andrea Camassei, plus, in the museum collection, precious detached frescoes by Polidoro da Caravaggio and his lover Maturino da Firenze.

The garden is known as a giardino segreto ("secret garden"😉, for its concealment from an outsider's view. It houses a monument to Bertel Thorwaldsen, who had a studio in the nearby Teatro delle Quattro Fontane in 1822-1834.

Other interesting facts:

Italian soldiers removed books from the Palazzo to send to troops at the front during World War II.

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which created the European Court of Human Rights, was signed here on 4 November 1950, a milestone in the protection of human rights.

Hidden in the cellars of the rear part of the building, a Mithraeum was recently found, dating probably from the second century AD.

Today, Palazzo Barberini houses the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, one of the most important painting collections in Italy. It includes Raphael's portrait La fornarina, Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes and a Hans Holbein portrait of Henry VIII.

The palace also houses the Italian Institute of Numismatics.

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Comments

[brendaerickson]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing - so interesting. And another Carvaggio for you!