Palazzo Barberini and the Bees

The rainy day did not look welcoming as we trekked to Italian language class. Two hours of the typical class passed and we all shuddered when it was announced we were going to begin learning the passato prossimo, or past tense.

Our afternoon took us to Palazzo Barberini and we gazed across the busy street to its original outer façade (seen to the right). Around to the entrance of the building we came, trying to rush past a huge group of French tourists. It didn’t work…they already had their tickets. But we had the last laugh! Just as Lisa was about to begin her discussion on the main salon ceiling painting, a man came up and invited us to enter a part of the palace not open to the public to view the ceiling on which Lisa did all her research. We stood alone in the empty rooms, once the private living quarters of the Barberini family, heads cocked to see the ceilings lit only by the light coming through the windows.

Back in the main salon we discussed Cartona’s masterpiece. The center of the ceiling painting was dominated by Divine Providence. Above Charity, Hope, Faith, Religion, and Rome assemble the Barberini family crest. The main source of information about the ceiling and its meaning comes from a pamphlet published by a household sweeper tired of visitors asking him for an explanation.

The Palazzo Barberini also houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica. One of its more famous paintings, depicted below, is Raphael’s “La Fornarina,” believed to be a portrait of his mistress, the daughter of a baker.

After speed-walking back to the Rome Center, we made it home just in time to watch the screening of “Caterina va in Cittá,” after which we were provided with refreshments and the opportunity to ask the director, Paolo Virzi, questions.



- Kristin