Spada Gallery: The Palazzo Spada was built in 1540, commissioned by Cardinal Girolamo Capodiferro. The architect of the Renaissance residence was Bartolomeo Baronino, who built it on the foundations of earlier buildings belonging to the Capodiferro family.
In 1632, the palace was bought by Cardinal Bernardino Spada, after which he began its reconstruction, which lasted about thirty years, in the Baroque style. Francesco Borromini, one of the most important Baroque architects to work in the Eternal City, who also designed the famous gallery, was responsible for the conversion project.
The two clergy owners of the residence became known as avid collectors of art and antiquities. The paintings on display in the Spada Gallery belonged to their collections, as did the antiques (including a statue of Pompey the Great) in other rooms.
In 1927 the palace passed into the hands of the Italian state and its rooms were turned into the seat of the Council of State, one of the most important organs of Italian legislation. However, an art museum has been set up in the few remaining rooms, displaying works collected by the palace’s previous owners.
Of great interest is Borromini’s Perspectiva, a masterly 8-metre high gallery with a colonnade designed by the architect, which creates the spatial illusion of at least 35 metres of corridor.
Museum opening hours: 8.30-19.30
Weekends: Tuesday, 25 December, 1 January.
