The Rome IndexPalazzo Barberini & Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica
Baroque palace, national art collection, Caravaggio and Raphael under one roof.
The building
Designed jointly by Maderno, Borromini and Bernini for the Barberini pope Urban VIII — arguably the most important Baroque palace in Rome. The two staircases alone (one oval by Borromini, one square by Bernini) demonstrate why these two men couldn't agree on anything and produced entirely different results from the same brief.
The collection
The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica here holds Raphael's La Fornarina (said to be a portrait of his lover), two Caravaggios including Judith Beheading Holofernes, and the ceiling fresco of The Triumph of Divine Providence by Pietro da Cortona — one of the most exuberant Baroque ceiling paintings in existence.
Practical notes
Combined ticket with Palazzo Corsini across the river. Rarely crowded compared to collections of equivalent quality. Five minutes walk from the Trevi Fountain.