Day 2 in Rome, and we continued our alternative sightseeing and decided to go visit the Palazzo Barberini, which houses the Museum of Antique Art, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome.
Bees, bees, bees, three bees are on the crest of the powerful Barberini family. This family, originally from Tuscany, made their fortune as wool and textile merchants; and it was also the family to which Pope Urban VIII belonged.
In the ceiling of the salon there is an amazing masterpiece by Pietro da Cortona, a fresco of the Allegory of the Divine Providence and Barberini Power, 1639.
The famous helicoidal staircase by Borromini.
We also did a little walk around the city, and I encountered another very familiar artwork. This tree by Giuseppe Penone, is reminiscent of the tree we have at the museum.
We had afternoon coffee at a really quirky place, the old workshop of Antonio Canova and his protégé Adamo Tadolini.
To have coffee seated down in the cafés here is really expensive, most Italians just grab a quick espresso on the run, standing at the bar counter. But here we thought it was worth paying three (!) times as much, to get to sit and enjoy this beautiful place for a while.
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