Permanent Collection

Over the course of its long history, Palazzo Sciarra Colonna once housed one of the most prestigious private art collections in Rome, featuring paintings by Perugino, Sebastiano del Piombo, Titian, Guido Reni, and Caravaggio. Dispersed at the end of the nineteenth century following the sensational sales to which Prince Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra was compelled, that historic collection finds an ideal form of restitution in the present display, which focuses on the history of Roman art and on the works of artists who lived and worked in the capital from the fifteenth century to the present day.

The exhibition route on the piano nobile unfolds through the rooms arranged along the sides of the courtyard, the result of nineteenth-century renovations commissioned by Prince Maffeo Barberini Colonna di Sciarra and carried out by the architect Francesco Settimi. Today, these spaces appear to the public in a renewed form, redesigned to offer an original and engaging interpretation of the collection, emphasizing thematic as well as chronological affinities among the displayed works. These include the Hall of Columns, the Hall of Medals, followed by two rooms dedicated to the early and late Roman seventeenth century, as well as the Hall of Landscapes and Cityscapes.

Also preserved in the palace is a prestigious and extensive collection of medals and coins, most of which consists of issues by the Roman Pontiffs. Second only to the Vatican collection, the numismatic holdings of the Museo del Corso – Polo Museale comprise over 2,500 pieces, some of which are unique or extremely rare.

Finally, completing the exhibition route on the piano nobile are the Halls of Portraits and Receptions, currently dedicated to temporary exhibitions designed to enhance groups of works from the Permanent Collection through dialogue with others from public and private collections, both national and international-making the itinerary even more vibrant and constantly evolving.