Built in the park of Cardinai Pio da Carpi, the palace was planned by Carlo Maderno after ownership passed to Francesco Barberini in
1625. Planned as a residence for the papal family, the
building was provided with splendid gardens, making a true and
proper town house. The later works by Bernini saw the construction of
central saloon (decorated with the famous fresco by Pietro da
Cortona), of the gallery with porch below and the great staircase with
squared stairwell. The design of the windows of the
central part and the plan for the great winding staircase can be attributed to Francesco
Borromini. Bought by the State in 1949, the palace holds the
National Gallery of Classic Art that, set up in 1895 and recently inaugurated,
collects works dating from the l2th to the l8th
Centuries, belonging to nobIe families (Torlonia, Barberini, Chigi, Sciarra, etc.)
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The home of the National Gallery of Classic Art is to be found in via delle Quattro Fontane in the magnificent palace of the Barberini family. Here can be seen the
Bust of Antonio Barberini, belonging to the early period of our artist as the rigid outline of the
mantle by the classic portraits shows, while the hand of Finelli can be recognised in the refined virtuosity of the face. It was commissioned by the brother of Urban VIII, Carlo Barberini, for the
funeral monument erected in the church of the Florentines in commemoration of the murder, in 1559, of the great-uncle; exile in Roma among the opposers of the Medici's power; the bust became part of the family portraits commissioned by the Pontiff.
In the Bust of Urban VIII, as in the portrait of Scipione Borghese, both commissioned in 1632, the eloquent expression of the face of the illustrious friend of Bernini reveals tones of unusual intimacy, completely Iacking any en cumbrance of
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The later bust of the Pontiff is, almost certainly, an unsigned work even if it comes from a Iost Bernini prototype.
Two greatly prized canvasses demonstrate his contemporary interest in painting. As in the Borghese
sculpture group, also in the David with Goliath's head, could conceal a youthful self-portrait, painted around 1625. The Portrait of Urban VIII
is noteworthy, it is recognised as a splendid autograph datable to around 1632. In the
Bust of Clement X, the ritual blessing was to appear even more solemn in the scenic setting in the niche, crowned
by the monumental drape in stucco drawn up for the Salon of the Library in the Altieri al Gesł palace.
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