Roma: Palazzo Barberini … Woman in Blue

It was nearly 1:00a when we got back to the apartment from the opera last night. Mui was in bed within minutes of returning. Not me. A-buzz with the excitement of the performance, it took me awhile to wind down.

Hence, a short night for me. “No problem,” I figured. The only thing on the calendar for our second full day in Roma was lunch … at 1:00p. We’d sleep in, relax, and then head out with enough time to make our reservation.

A fine and dandy plan. Except that before I turned in, I came across a promotional list of current events and activities in Roma. The dates for most of the things on the list did not work with our schedule. But one did. So, no sleeping in and relaxing this morning.

With a jiggle added to our day, we had breakfast and then headed off to Palazzo Barberini … one of the two venues of Roma’s Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica (National Gallery of Antique Art). We didn’t know it when we set out this morning, but as it turns out, we’d also be visiting the other venue. So, I guess you could say that we jiggled our plans twice today.

Anyway, we knew exactly how to get to Palazzo Barberini since we had visited the gallery in 2018. Coincidentally, that visit also followed a musical performance that let out after midnight! Two metro rides — changing from one line to the other at Termini — put us at Piazza Barberini. From there, it was a short walk to the palazzo, which is said to be the prototypical Baroque palace.

The building was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII Barberini as a family residence. Three of the most important architects of the 17th century had a hand in the design … of whom I only knew the name of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The interior decorations were a work in progress through the middle of the 18th century. In 1953, the palazzo became the second venue for the National Gallery of Antique Art … featuring works from Italy and Europe that date from 1200 to 1700.

Once we purchased our admission — €15/adult (no senior rate) — we explored the various rooms. Not much of the art looked familiar. That came as a surprise since we’d been to this gallery before. Then I remembered that the rooms on the second floor had been closed in 2018 to reorganize the exhibited works, so we didn’t see everything at that time.

So, for all intents and purposes, this turned out to be a new-to-us gallery visit. With a bonus. We got to see Johannes Vermeer’s “Donna in blu che legge una lettera” (Woman in Blue Reading a Letter) … the painting on loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam … which is what we came to see in the first place!

P.S. You’ll notice in the photos that I focused a great deal on architectural details/ceiling frescos. The art, with few exceptions, was mostly religious in nature. Thus, my attention wandered quite a bit.Læs mere