Doria Pamphilj  gallery (Galleria Doria Pamphilj)

 

The Galleria (Gallery) Doria-Pamphilj is one of the most important and magnificent private art collections in existence in Rome.

It is housed in the splendid noble family residence between Piazza del Collegio Romano and Via del Corso, the residence originates from the merging of the Palazzo Aldobrandini al Corso (once Della Rove re, with a splendid Bramante courtyard) and the original nucleus of Palazzo Pamphili erected in Collegio Romano by Antonio Del Grande between 16S9 and 1675; the existing appearance of the palace goes back to the first half of the XVIII century when the two main bodies of the building underwent comprehensive restoration work by architect Gabriele Valvassori between 1731 and 1734 who created a better connection between the two pre-existent units by giving them a monumental facade on the side of the old Via Lata and by creating the famous Galleria degli Specchi erected on the same side after the closing of the upper loggia of the Bramante courtyard. The Galleria, planned with an eye to French models and in particular to the palace of Versailles is still adorned with the very rich original furnishings (the frames of the mirrors in pure gold and the crystal chandeliers of Murano and Bohemia) and constitutes the heart of the aristocratic collection by maintaining some of the most important masterpieces by the European masters of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The collection was started by Camillo Pamphili in 1644, the year when, coinciding with the election to the papal throne of his uncle Giovanni Battista as Innocent X, he was raised to the position of "cardinal nephew": a position which, though determining the start of financial fortunes, he was subsequently rejected because of the great family scandal when he married Olimpia Aldobrandini who brought a dowry of a very rich set of sixteenth-century paintings from the Veneto region including works by Titian, Raffaello (Double portrait) and Lotto; the famous landscape lunettes by Annibale Carracci, which were originally intended for the chapel of Pietro Aldobrandini in the Palazzo del Corso were also part of this collection. Camillo and his son Benedetto were responsible, on the other hand, for the purchase and direct commissioning of the main pieces on the collection which includes the excellent works by Saraceni, Guercino, Lorraine, Bernini, Algardi and the splendid Portrait of Innocent X by Velazquez. The heraldic fusion with the Doria family of Genoa, which took place in 1763 due to the extinction of the male line of the Pamphili, led to the new reorganisation of the arrangement in the rooms which were richly decorated and adorned with valuable furniture and artefacts, the historical arrangement was restored to all its splendour by recent restoration work.

Information and Addresses

Address Piazza del Collegio Romano, 2

Visiting Hours Every day from 1000 am to 5.00 pm (the ticket office closes half an hour before the schedule closing time)

Closed Thursday, Dec. 25, Jan. 1, Easter Sunday, May 1, Aug. 15 Telephone 06 6797323; Fax 06 6780939

Price € 8,00; concessions € 5,70

 

For Tours information – private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting in line - VIP services

www.tourinrome.com www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com  www.vaticanmuseumticket.com