One of my special talents for traveling in big cities is to find places in the middle of chaos where I can be peacefully alone. I think it’s a skill acquired through living half of my life in New York City, where even the smallest studio apartment becomes a spacious sanctuary. Whatever the reason, one of my favorite places to go in Rome is a museum so quiet that I’ve actually fallen asleep there!
Of course, we all love to visit Rome’s Trevi Fountain. You have to do it: toss your coins, eat some gelato, keep roving hands out of your pockets, etc. I like to pop by and pay my respects either first thing in the morning or very late at night, especially if I’m having a bout of jet lag. At any time of day, it’s a grand baroque explosion that fully surpasses all of the hype.
Once you’ve psyched yourself through the swarm of tourists around the fountain and the nearby Spanish Steps, you may, if you’re like me, want a bit of time away from the crowds. After all, if your travel goal is to feel like a touring princess for a day, you can’t spend all your time passing for a commoner. Where better to take a royal respite than a nearby palazzo, decked out as an enchanting museum?
Palazzo Barberini is not far off of Piazza Barberini, just up the Via delle Quatro Fontane (the street with the famous four fountains). This is also a great area of town to stay during your visit – not too loud, but convenient to all the main sights and the metro. The museum was renovated in recent years, so if you haven’t been in awhile, prepare to be impressed with the changes.
The palazzo is set back from the road, allowing the constant buzz of the motorinos to fade away, and an elegant fountain sits in the courtyard (occasionally accented by an uninterested, truly Italian cat). Once you buy your ticket in the main office, you pop back outside and climb a curved marble staircase adorned with giant statues of ancient gods as you make your way to the beginning of the exhibit.
The Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, where you now stand, contains one of the most impressive collections of art in Italy, but you can typically find yourself alone or accompanied by one or two others who are in on the secret. Works by Raphael and Caravaggio are laid out before you, and the museum contains helpful cards in each room detailing the paintings on the walls and ceilings.
The painting of Beatrice Cenci, by Reni, so inspired the poet Percy Shelley that he wrote an entire play about the plight of the young Italian girl who was put to death for killing her abusive father. Standing in front of the painting, as Shelley did, and as countless generations of his admirers have done, never fails to make me aware of the true immortality of art.
The grand salon of the museum is epic, and red velvet couches allow you to lay back and study the massive ceiling painting. The painting is an Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power, created to please the Barberini family and their own Pope Urban VIII. After a long day of swirling around the Eternal City, it’s easy to lay back on the plush cushions and just rest for a second, allowing the images of battle and divinity to screen on your eyelids. The crowds and the sights of Rome will be waiting when you open your eyes.
Just try not to snore. It’s not becoming of a duchess, even on holiday.