Address, opening hours and admission

Address: Via delle Quattro Fontane, 13 – Rome (tel. +39 06 4824184 or 06 42010066 (ticket office) or 06 4814591). Metro: Barberini. Opening hours: Tuesdays till Sundays from 08.30 till 19.00. Closed: Mondays, January 1, December 25. Last entrance is one hour before closing time. Admission: 12 Euros (which includes a visit to the Galleria Corsini); concessions (EU citizens age 18-25), 2 Euros; ages 0-17, free. A visit to special exhibitions is not included in this price, but does give a discount. The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica is free on the first Sunday of the month. Special exhibitions are not.

History and description

Originally the museum, which was created in 1949 after the Italian State had acquired the Palazzo Barberini, divided its collection with the Galleria Corsini, the older works (up to the 17^th century) being exhibited on the Piazza Barberini location.

In 1984 a reorganization took place and several more recently created works found a home in the Palazzo Barberini as well.

Apart from the permanent collection, the museum also often has special exhibitions.

Highlights Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica

• La Fornarina, by Raphael.
• Judith Beheading Holofernes, by Caravaggio
• Hans Holbein’s Portait of Henry VIII
• Madonna di Corneto Tarquinia by Filippo Lippi

“La Fornarina” is one of Raphael’s most famous paintings. He painted his “Portrait of a young Woman”, as it is alternatively titled, between 1518 and 1519. According to Vasari the model was a young baker’s daughter who refused to marry the painter. Others claim that she was a prostitute. A slight swelling on her left breast has birthed a theory that she might have had breast cancer.

Via delle Quattro Fontane, 13 – Rome

Trevi district