The new staging of Palazzo Barberini in Rome
The rearrangement of the exhibition itinerary on the noble floor of the building, begun years ago, continues with the new configuration of the rooms dedicated to the art of the sixteenth century. With works by Andrea del Sarto, Giulio Romano, Lorenzo Lotto, Raphael, Bronzino, Bernini
The refurbishment project of Barberini Palace a Rome, started in 2017 with the rearrangement of the South Wing and continued in 2019 with the 17th century rooms. Flaminia Gennari Santori with Maurizia Cicconi and Michele Di Monte (with installation project by Enrico Quell), is the noble floor of the Palazzo (among the offices, together with Palazzo Corsini, of the National Galleries of Ancient Art), in particular the rooms dedicated to the art of the sixteenth century. “The intent is to re-establish an organic and easily readable path to the public”, underlines Gennari Santori, “In a narrative exhibition structure that also highlights the history of the building and its collections”. The sales presented at the last temporary renovation and rearrangement work range from 12 to 18, for a total of 42 works exhibited from the collections of the Galleries and from public and private collections as loans. The new exhibition follows a chronological-geographical criterion, even if there is no lack of thematic and monographic studies.
PALAZZO BARBERINI. THE NEW SET-UP OF THE 16TH CENTURY ROOMS
The new route includes the entrance from the Bernini atrium, where the Veiled from Antonio Corradini from 1743. The first work of the exhibition is the iconic one Galata, ancient Roman sculpture belonging to the Barberini collection. Room 12, on the theme Tradition and devotion, hosts the Holy Family from Andrea del Sarto, the Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist of the Beccafumi, the Holy Family from Perin del Vaga and the Madonna Hertz from Giulio Romano. Room 13, on the other hand, is dedicated to Lorenzo Lotto, of which the Mystical marriage of Saint Catherine with Saints Girolamo, Giorgio, Sebastiano, Antonio Abate and Nicola di Bari. Room 14 explores Ferrara painting with works by Garofalo And Dosso Dossi; room 15 the Sienese one with works by Marco Bigio, Girolamo Genga and the sodom. Room 16, entitled, is instead dedicated to the genre of the portrait The look of the Renaissance, with some of the most famous works of the National Galleries, from Fornarina from Raffaello to the Portrait of Stefano IV Colonnaof the Bronzino, from the Mary Magdalene from Piero di Cosimo All’Henry VIII attributed to Hans Holbein, in addition to the portraits of Niccolò dell’Abate, Quentin Metsys and Bartolomeo Veneto. The painting of the Central Italian Manner is the theme of room 17, where is the large altarpiece of Giorgio Vasari and workshop with the Allegory of the Immaculate Conception, recovered from the deposit of the State Museum of Arezzo. The work will be available to the public during the first two weeks of exhibition, and then undergo a restoration. Finally, room 18, or the Sacchi room also known as the Divine Wisdom, presents works that portray the protagonists of the Barberini family, such as the painted and sculpted portraits of Urban VIII and his nephews made by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Giuliano Finelli, Lorenzo Ottoni. In the center of the room are also the two globes of the celestial and terrestrial sphere of Matthäus Greuter, testimony of the interest that the Barberinis had for the optical, physical and astronomical disciplines. Here are the images of the new set-up.
– Desirée Maida