It is one of the most wonderful Baroque residences in Italy: within Colonna palace they coexist in a refined opulence ancient marbles and Renaissance portraits, views of the Vanvitelli (this is one of the largest existing collections in the world) and works that Cosmè Tura realized hyper-realistic at the Este court Venus of Bronzino and a simple farmer who eats his plate of beans quickly, his black-nailed hands clutching a piece of bread, pausing for a moment to look Annibale Carracci who wanted to paint it like this, on a late sixteenth century canvas that seems to have come out of the workshop of a fin de siècle Parisian painter.
What is most surprising is to discover that Palazzo Colonna (still inhabited today by the same family, which over the centuries gave birth to, among others, a pope, Martin V, an admiral – Marcantonio Colonna, hero of the battle of Lepanto – and to countless cardinals) has an ancient history behind it, which began in the Middle Ages and continued over time, and culminated with the great 17th century restructuring that saw its birth one of the most beautiful galleries in Europe, richer and more sumptuous even than the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles, still set up today according to a typical taste of Baroque collecting, which aims to amaze and leave you breathless the visitor who does not expect to find so much beauty all at once. The Gallery is so beautiful and princely that it was chosen as set of the last scene of the legendary film Roman holidays, the one in which Audrey Hepburn, returned to being Princess Anna after a few hours of freedom, greets the journalists and with them too Gregory Peck. From fiction to reality, the letter, full of amazement and wonder, is still preserved in the family archives, that Jackie Kennedy he wrote to Princess Isabelle Colonna Sursock the day after her visit to the palace.
But it is not only the Gallery that amazes inside the palace: you can also find it among the rooms a precious fresco by Pinturicchio, made at the end of the fifteenth century, and one amazing garden terraced, built on the ruins of an ancient Roman temple, which offers an unforgettable view of the Eternal City. In short, a marvel that amazes at every step. Browse the gallery to see it
From Monday 1 February the Gallaeria Colonna reopened to the public. Visits are only available upon reservation from Monday to Friday (temporary closure on Saturday due to COVID19 regulations). For information: www.galleriacolonna.it/info/ For reservations: tel. 06 6784350, email: [email protected]
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