Palazzo Colonna and Galeria Colonna

This photo of the front of the Palazzo Colonna is part of one of the panoramic images found on the PanoramicEarth.com Tour of Rome. There are over 100 images taken from around Rome linked to an interactive map.

The Galleria Colonna is contained within the Palazzo Colonna, a palace that has been in the Colonna family for over 20 generations. This rise to glory started in the Middle Ages when the Colonna family was the most powerful feudal force in Rome. In 1424 the family managed to elect their own pope, which resulted in huge benefits and triggered the building of a huge new family compound, the Palazzo Colonna.

In the 1700s the building was rebuilt and the family had moved on from nominating popes to collecting art. Consequently there is now quite a collection of late Renaissance and Baroque paintings stored and displayed here. Six of the rooms are open to the public, and though the paintings are not labeled a key to them is available.

The first room contains a number of family portraits and the Temptation of St. Anthony. After thisis the Great Hall with a gilded ceiling and a painting of Mary about the clobber the Devil who is trying to steal a baby. The third room, Hall of the Desks, is named after two superb ancient desks contained in it. The fourth room features Martin V, the Colonna member to become pope, and the fithe Throne Room contains a chair turned to the wall for use by the pope should he choose to drop by. The last room is named after Maria Mancini, nice of Cardinal Mazarin who ran France for much of the late 1600’s.

From the Gallery you can also see into the private garden and the rouns of the Temple of Cerapis with 20m high marble columns. This area is not open to the public.

In the Piazzo Colonna on which the Palazzo Colonna is built, stands the 30m high Column of Marcus Aurelius, built in the time of Emperor Aurelius. Made of about 27 hollow 3.7m wide blocks the hollow column contains a spiral staircase leading to the top. The Intricate relief depicts the Danubian or Marcomannic wars of Marcus Aurelius, waged by him from 166 to his death.

A full panoramic image showing the square around Palazzo Colonna is found on the Rome tour by PanoramicEarth.com. An enlargement of this photo can be found on Flickr.

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