The painting collection, especially from the period between the 14th and 18th centuries, originates from the donation to the state of the private collection of Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini, gathered in the eighteenth century. It preserves works by Beato Angelico, Rubens, Murillo, Luca Giordano.
The art collections of the Corsini family were formed during the seventeenth century with Cardinal Neri Corsini, supplemented by materials from the branch of the family that had previously settled in Rome, direct acquisitions by Pope Clement XII when he was still a cardinal, and by his nephew, along with numerous gifts received by the family following their prominent social status acquired with their new position. In 1883 the palace was sold to the state and the collections were donated to it.
Only recently has it been possible to reconstruct the Corsini Gallery as an autonomous entity, reuniting much of the original material in its historic location. The Gallery presents paintings from the 14th to the 18th century, predominantly by sixteenth and eighteenth-century authors, ancient and modern sculptures (the latter mostly from the Torlonia collection), small bronzes, and eighteenth-century furniture. The Roman, Neapolitan, and Bolognese schools, especially from the seventeenth century, are well represented, with important groups of bamboccianti and landscape painters.
