ROME'S PALAZZO COLONNA - A FEAST FOR THE SENSES FOR SURE

It's the last morning of our four day visit to Rome and time to leave the Barberini Hotel to make our way back to Ciampino airport to pick up our Fiat Panda for the journey to Umbria.

SOME OF THE BUILDINGS OF THE PALAZZO COLONNA - ROME

There's one place, however, I've wanted to visit in Rome for several years and its not been possible because its only open on Saturday mornings and today is Saturday so our journey north has to be delayed by a few hours!! It's the Palazzo Colonna at the foot of the Quirinale Hill near Piazza Venezia. It's still a privately owned residence so the opening hours are the prerogative of the family who have occupied it for more than 800 years and they can open as much or as little as they wish. It's not that long ago that the Palazzo was only open once a month. And the reason I want to go there I can hear you asking? - well one of its rooms - The Grand Hall - has featured in my Baroque furniture and interiors lecture for years and its a jaw dropping showstopper!

Essentially the "Baroque" is a European style which began in Rome at the end of the 1500's and evolved quickly spreading to all parts of Europe by 1700. It's origins are fascinating and begin within the framework of the Catholic church. The Council of Trent (1545-63) met to address the church reforms needed to combat the impact of the Reformation and one of the outcomes was that the authorities advocated the use of the arts as means of communicating directly, in a non-elitist way, with church members, many of whom were illiterate. It was suggested that work commissioned by the church should be clear in its message and 'emotional' in its impact. Towards the end of the 16th century the paintings of artists such as Caravaggio and the Carraci brothers evolved to embrace these approaches and architecture and interior church decoration soon followed suit in the early 17th century. The work carried out by Bernini inside St Peter's in the form of the huge bronze baldachino and other fixtures comes to mind. It wasn't long before this theatrical, dramatic and exuberant approach in architecture and the arts permeated in to the domestic sphere and it was Rome's powerful families (many of them connected to the Catholic establishment),who used its ideas and precepts to aggrandise themselves and reflect their status and power in Roman 17th century society. The Colonna family provide such an example.

THE GRAND HALL OF THE PALAZZO COLONNA COMPLETED IN 1700

The Palazzo Colonna is one of the oldest private palaces in Rome construction starting as early as the 14th century. When Oddone Colonna was elected Pope in 1417 the palazzo became the papal residence between 1420 and 1431. Surviving the Sack of Rome in 1527 owing to the Colonna family's good relations with the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, it was altered and extended by successive generations, especially in the 17th century, the time when the Grand Hall was built and decorated. It was Cardinal Girolomo Colonna and his nephew Lorenzo Onofrio who commissioned the 76 metre long interior in 1650 and it took 50 years to complete. The original architect and designer was Antonio del Grande but later contributions also came from Bernini, Schor and Fontana.

CEILING DETAIL FROM THE GRAND HALL OF THE PALAZZO COLONNA

The decorative theme of the interior and its two adjoining smaller ante rooms is the aggrandisement of the Colonna family and especially the role of Marcantonio II Colonna who led the Christian fleet and defeated the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. The scheme was an integrated fusion of architecture, fine art, sculpture and furnishing on the grandest and most opulent of scales. The battle and Marcantonio's role in it is revealed in the illusionistic painted ceiling and the fabulous marble inlaid floor and gilded walls provide a wonderful setting for the related sculpture and furnishings. Particularly interesting are the carved and gilded wooden console tables with slab marble tops of the finest quality. The substructures are essentially sculptural opportunities for carvers and gilders to exhibit their skills and the subject - recumbent Turks shown in submissive forms supporting the table tops - is not a theme that would find acceptance in our politically correct times today.

RECUMBENT TURKS SUPPORT THE SLAB MARBLE TOPS OF THE CONSOLE TABLES IN THE GRAND HALL
OF THE PALAZZO COLONNA

 If you visit this marvellous property - and there is a lot more to see than this single suite of rooms, not least a magnificent art collection put together by Cardinal Girolamo and his nephew Onofrio - one strange object you have to look out for in the Grand Hall is a cannon ball embedded in the marble stairs which lead down in to the hall from the battle room. The heavy iron sphere was fired in the direction of the palazzo from the Janiculum Hill in 1849 when the then Roman republic was under siege. It was the French army, under the orders of General Oudinot that fired it in support of Pope Pius IX's attempts to deal with the insurgents, It's a curious thing to find on a staircase in this amazing room.

THE EMBEDDED 1849 CANNON BALL IN THE STAIRS OF THE GRAND HALL 

PALAZZO COLONNA

So - if your planning a trip to Rome and haven't been there before - and its wonderful at any time of year - as well as going to the top ten tourist attractions which include the Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel and the like - do a bit of planning beforehand and select some slightly more obtuse off the beaten track places to put in your itinerary - there are hundreds of them and I still have a list as long as my arm for our next visit.