Roma: Gallerie Nazionali @ Corsini

Rome’s National Gallery of Antique Art was born at Palazzo Corsini soon after the palace was sold to the Italian State in 1883.

The sale included the art collected by Cardinal Nero Maria Corsini and members of his family, as well as the gifts they acquired due to their prestigious standing in the city. This nucleus of art has since grown through donations and includes paintings from the 14th to the 18th century.

To be honest, we didn’t know about this venue of the gallery. We have the attendant at Palazzo Barberini to thank for this segue to our day. After he handed Mui a plastic coin to insert into a locket at Palazzo Barberini, he mentioned that the admission we paid would also gain us entrance to the Palazzo Corsini venue.

And thus it was that we set out toward Trastevere. I must admit that the walk was long. Well, not really … but the broiling hot afternoon heat made it seem so. Despite guzzling water along the way — supplemented with electrolyte packs — the going was tough.

Luckily, at one point, we spotted a branch of the gelateria that we first happened upon in 2015 … La Romana dal 1947. Nothing like a delicious, creamy, cold treat at one of our favorite gelateria to give us enough energy to complete the walk to Palazzo Corsini.

This venue is smaller than Palazzo Barberini … the collection is housed in the piano nobile (main floor) rooms. That’s not to say that it was second rate. Not at all. There were fantastic pieces being exhibited … and, once again, frescoed ceilings to enjoy. In fact, I liked the art here better as there were more pieces that were not religious in nature.

By the time we were ready to leave at 4:30p, Mui had decided that we’d be taking a taxi back to our apartment. No more walking in the heat.

While I did a quick second round of the gallery for some detail shots, he download the itTaxi app. The app recommends booking your ride at least 30 minutes prior to when you want to depart, but we lucked out with a ride within 5 minutes of ordering it. The car even had a working A/C!

And so our visit to Roma is a wrap. We were thinking of going out for a wander in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican tonight, but we’re too drained to do so. Best to rest up before tomorrow’s departure to Bologna … where more hot temps are waiting to welcome us back.Læs mere