Galleria Colonna

Frommer's Review

For those who saw the classic Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, this spectacular private palazzo, with its 17th-century Sala Grande, is already familiar to you. In it, Hepburn, playing a princess, held a press conference where she bid an elegant adieu to the handsome reporter she'd fallen in love with, Gregory Peck. Today the palace houses a celebrated art collection in its Galeria Colonna, which has extremely limited visiting times. The art collection is one of the most prestigious in Rome, all of it acquired after the Renaissance. The greatest art is from the 17th century, and the collection embraces many grand masters of Europe, including small paintings on copper by Jan Brueghel the Elder. Note also the series of eternally fresh temperas by Gaspard Dughet. There are also several magnificent paintings by Gasper van Wittel, among others. The beautiful, even lavishly decorated rooms of the palace compete with the art itself. Frescoes, for example, by the famous Bernardino di Betto (better known as "Pinturicchio"), decorate the ceiling of "the Room of the Fountain."

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

Back to Top