colonna gallery
( Galleria Colonna )
The gallery was founded by Cardinal Girolamo
I Colonna, the son of the Contestabile
Filippo and Lucrezia Tomacelli; it was
built between 1654 and 1655 as designed by the
architect Antonio Del Grande, but was completed
after his death in 1671 by Girolamo Fontana
and inaugurated by Filippo Colonna in 1703.
The collection of art works gathered in the
gallery initiated in the Seventeenth century and
later increased by Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna
consists of sculptures from the Roman age
and several paintings ranging from the
Fifteenth to the Nineteenth century.
Among
the various exhibition rooms of the Gallery,
the great hall is particularly noteworthy because
together with the preceding and the following rooms,
it forms a complex which is more than 70 meters long
and has an impressive visual effect.
The
fresco decoration of the vault was done by the
Roman artists Giovanni Paolo Schor, his son
Filippo and Laura Bernasconi,(1665-1670j,
while the five paintings depicting the stories of
Marcantonio II are by Giovanni Colli and
Filippo Gherardi (1675-1678) and they
represent: the Battle of Lepanto, the
entrance of Marcantonio II in Rome and
st.Pius V appointing him as commander of his
fleet, the placing of the statue of Marcantonio
in Campidoglio and the Doge of Venice
that gathers his council in order to defeat the
Turks.
The
walls of the hall are divided by couples of
Corinthian pillars of ancient yellow marble,
which bear friezes of golden stucco
representing trophies and panoplies.
The large Venetian mirrors a re decorated with
figures of cherubs created by Maratta and with
flowers by Mario de' Fiori.
Some
gilded console tables and ancient statues are
located in the hall, which is illuminated by
large Murano chandeliers.
Some
painting sin the gallery deserve special
mention, such as: The eater of beans by
Annibale Carracci, the Portrait of the
Cardinal Pompeo Colonna by Agostino Carracci,
another Portrait of the Cardinal Pompeo Colonna
by Lorenzo Lotto, a Portrait of
Onofrio Panvinio by Titian, Cain and
Abel by Pier Francesco Mala, the
Annunciation with the Archangel Gabriel by
Guercino, the Assumption of the Virgin by
Rubens and two paintings by
Salvator Rosa representing a Self-portrait of
the artist in the semblance of St.John the
Baptist and a sermon of the Baptist.
Information and Addresses
Address Via della Pilotta, 17
Visiting Hours Saturday from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm
Closed August
Telephone 06 678435°; Fax 06 6794638
Price € 7,00; concessions € 5,50
For
Tours information
– private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting in
line - VIP services
www.tourinrome.com
www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com
www.vaticanmuseumticket.com
