La Galleria Colonna di Roma was inaugurated by Lorenzo Onofrio’s son, Filippo II, in the year 1700. The original project was by Architect Antonio del Grande; it was then integrated in the last decades of the 1600s by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Paolo Schor, and Carlo Fontana.
From the very beginning, the Gallery was conceived as a large representative hall meant to celebrate the Christian fleet’s victory over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
Marcantonio II Colonna was the true victor of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571: the entire decoration of the Gallery was dedicated to him.
This important historical event is depicted in the frescoes of the Great Hall, and their splendor is due to the mastery of painters such as Coli and Gherardi. The frescoes of the Sala dei Passaggi, with the marvelous “Allegory of the Battle,” date back to the 18th century. The Sala della Colonna is, furthermore, a genuine celebration of Marcantonio II and his apotheosis.
It should also be noted that the entire Gallery was designed to be seen itself as an artistic jewel: the pictorial masterpieces are countless, and the fact that creative geniuses such as Tintoretto, Guido Reni, Pietro da Cortona, and many others were involved attests to this. Ancient marbles and frames with a vague and sensual baroque flavor complete the splendid collections of the Colonna family. Particularly interesting within this apartment are the chests of the Sala dei Passaggi, truly magnificent and precious, a genuine treasure of wood and gemstones (a true triumph of ebony and ivory craftsmanship).
The other genuine marvel of the Galleria Colonna is undoubtedly the apartment of Princess Isabelle. It is essentially a wing of the palace dating back to the 15th century and still bearing the imprint of the important residence of Pope Martin V, who lived here until 1431.
The main attractions of this apartment are definitely awakened by the frescoes of Bernardino di Betto, a painter better known as Pinturicchio, who made the Fountain Room a true masterpiece. In the 1500s, it was Cardinal Borromeo who stayed in these rooms, the period of greatest prestige and splendor for the building: the greatest artists and painters of that era passed through here and breathed in the baroque air of the halls. The rich and vast decoration of the subsequent period is owed to Gaspard Dughet and Carlo Cesi.
Even Northern painting finds an adequate place in this apartment: the paintings of Brueghel the Elder and the views by Van Wittel have been jealously and precious kept, and today all visitors benefit from them. The name of the apartment comes from the fact that Princess Isabelle Colonna lived here until 1984: her grandchildren wanted to dedicate this refined wing with an important past to her memory.
