Private Palazzo Barberini Museum Tour with Art Historian Guide

Palazzo Barberini Museum Private Tour Description

This 2 hour private tour includes:

• Admission to the Palazzo Barberini

• Private Licensed Art Historian Guide

• Tour of the Museum's collection and architecture

Meet Your Guide in Piazza Barberini

Your experience begins in Piazza Barberini home to Bernini's great 17th century Triton Fountain. Your guide will describe the Baroque master sculptor's ability that will be shown on an even larger scale inside the Palazzo.

Enter the Ornate Palace of the Barberini Family

One of Rome's most important aristocratic families, the Barberini reached the apex of power with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papacy as Pope Urban VIII. Developing from a minor Tuscan noble family, the Barberini needed a downtown palace to portray and lead their newfound influence.

To construct Palazzo Barberini, the family went through three of Italy's great architects. From Carlo Maderno and his nephew Francesco Borromini to the final touches by the aforementioned Gian Lorenzo Bernini, your guide will point out the stamp each of these great artists placed on the palace finally completed in 1633.

Grand Staircases by Bernini and Borromini

As you enter the majestic palace, your eyes will head to one of the great staircases with the sky straight above. Decide which style of elaborate staircase is your favorite as your guide tells stories of the intense 17th century rivalry between Bernini and Borromini.

Caravaggio

Once you head up one of the stairwells, reach the incredible collection of paintings that bring art lovers to the Palazzo Barberini. Though Caravaggio's works can be found across Italy and the world, the Barberini holds Caravaggio's greatest masterpiece amongst others.

Stand up close and observe the painful detail of Judith Beheading Holofrenes. With his patented use of the chiaroscuro, Caravaggio creates a vividness and power of realism not outmatched until photography. Besides the bloody biblical scene, Caravaggio's Saint Francis in Meditation and Narcissus are found in the collection. Learn about Caravaggio's turbulent life and career that led to genius, murder and controversy.

Raphael, Canaletto, and Henry VIII

As you explore the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica your guide will lead you to amazing works including the Renaissance master Raphael's La Fornarina. Full of theories on who the subject of the painting is, thoughts range from a witch to Raphael's muse and lover.

The great collection also holds great works from across eras. See the iconic portrait of Henry VIII by Holbein for an escape from only Italians. Come back to Italy and the era of the Grand Tour with the most famous Italian landscape painter Canaletto. Before postcards, the wealthiest travelers would pay Canaletto and others to paint scenes of Venice, Florence, Rome and Vesuvius with them present. Think of it as Facebook for the 1700s.