Doria Pamphilj Gallery
Rome Art Museum: History, Permanent Collection Highlights.

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Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome

Contents

• History & Collection
• Collection Highlights
• Galleries
• Contact Details

History & Collection

One of the best art museums in Europe, the Doria Pamphilj Gallery houses a large collection of important European fine art and decorative art, and is located in the Doria Pamphilj Palace in Rome. The Palace is privately owned by the Pamphilj family (who still reside there) but has been open to the public for many years. The gallery's collection of paintings, furniture, sculptures, Gobelins tapestry, prints and drawings have been gradually assembled since the 16th century and include furnishings formerly belonging to Pope Innocent X (1574-1655).

GERMANY - AUSTRIA - SWISS
Alte Meister Dresden
Gemaldegalerie SMPK, Berlin
Pinakothek Museum Munich
Kunsthistorisches Museum
BRITAIN
National Gallery London
Tate Gallery
Courtauld Gallery
British Royal Art Collection
British Museum
RUSSIA
Hermitage St Petersburg
Tretyakov Gallery Moscow
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts

The gallery houses numerous masterpieces of Baroque painting, including works by Caravaggio (1571-1610), and Baroque artists Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), Guido Reni (1575-1642) and Guercino (1591-1666); as well as by Flemish painter Jan Brueghel (1568-1625), Jusepe Ribera (1591-1652), landscapists Claude Lorrain (1600-82) and Gaspard Dughet (1615-75). Also on view, Renaissance masters Parmigianino (1503-40), Raphael (1483-1520), Titian (1488/90-1576), Garofalo (1481-1559), Correggio (1489-1534) of the Parma school, and illustrator and painter Lorenzo Lotto (c. 1480-1556). The most famous work in the collection is Diego Velazquez's (1599-1660) Portrait of Innocent X (c.1650) as well as Filippo Lippi's Annunciation (c.1445). There are also several marble busts on view by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654); and a small collection of Greek sculpture from the archaic to Hellenistic period.

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LEARN ART APPRECIATION
Before visiting the Doria
Pamphilj Gallery, see:
Art Evaluation: How to Appreciate Art.

FINE ARTS
See our guide to:
Painting (oils/watercolours), or
Sculpture (marble/bronze), or
Printmaking (etching/lithography).

ARTS EXHIBITIONS
For news of any major exhibitions
of fine art being held at the
Doria Pamphilj Gallery, see:
Art News Headlines.

FRANCE/BELGIUM
Musee Conde, Chantilly
Louvre Museum
Strasbourg Museum of Fine Arts
Antwerp Museum of Fine Arts
NETHERLANDS
Mauritshuis Art Museum
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
SPAIN
Prado Museum Madrid
Reina Sofia, Madrid

The Collection Highlights

Portrait of Pope Innocent X (c.1650) by Velazquez

This painting portrays one of the key figures of the Pamphilj family, Giovanni Battista Pamphilj who was ordained Pope Innocent X in 1644. Known for his coarse and ugly appearance, the portrait preserves the vivid and omnipresent face which made Innocent’s contemporaries think him a 'contemptuous spirit'. Velazquez who was commissioned by the Pope, inspired generations of artists, and none more so than Francis Bacon (1909–92) who created his Study after Velazquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X in 1953.

The Annunciation (c.1445) by Filippo Lippi

Lippi treats the Annunciation in a slightly different way to other artists in that the angel arrives from the right of the picture, rather than the left, which was more traditional. This allowed the artist to use a natural source of light from the left, rather than an artificial one from outside the picture. Initially it was thought the painting may have been carried out by Lippi's studio apprentices but it was eventually recognized as the hand of the master himself. Lippi painted several Annunciations and other examples can be found in the Pinakothek, Munich, National Gallery in London and the Galleria d’Arte Antica in Rome.

Gallery Highlights By Room

The gallery is arranged around a courtyard, into 4 smaller galleries and separate rooms.

Gallery One

- Mary Magdalene by Annibale Carracci (1560-1609).
- Christ in the house of the Pharisee by Cigoli (1559-1613).
- St Roch and the Angel by Carlo Saraceni (1580-1620).
- Herminia and Tancred, by Guercino (1591-1666).

Gallery Two (Galleria degli Specchi)

The vault is decorated by the Baroque painter Aureliano Milani (1675-1749).
- Portrait of Innocent X (c.1650) by Velazquez.
- Bust of Innocent X by the High Baroque sculptor Bernini (1598-1680).
- The Crossing of the Red Sea by Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630).
- Rest on the Flight into Egypt by Caravaggio (1572-1610).
- Salome with the head of St John the Baptist (c.1515) by Titian (1485-1576)
- Double portrait by Raphael (Raffaello Santi) (1483-1520).

Gallery Three

- St Jerome by Lorenzo Lotto, (c.1480-1556).
- Return of the Prodigal Son by Guercino (1591-1666).
- Madonna in Adoration of the Child by Guido Reni (1575-1642).
- Holy Family by Sassoferrato (1609-85).
- Study of a Head by Federico Barocci (1526-1612).

Gallery Four

- Bust of Olimpia Aldobrandini Pamphilj by Alessandro Algardi (1595-1654).
- Young St John the Baptist by Caravaggio.
- Christ in the Temple by Mazzolino, Ludovico (c.1480-1530).
- Angel by Titian (c.1485-1576).
- Christ in the garden by Marcello Venusti (1512/15-1579).

The Aldobrandini Salon
This room is decorated with antique sculptures, 3 large sarcophagi, marble reliefs by Flemish sculptor Francois Duquesnoy (1594-1643) and 4 Brussels tapestries depicting the Battle of Lepanto.

Green Salon
This room contains a 15th century Tournai tapestry illustrating the adventures of Alexander the Great, as well as the Annunciation by Lippi.

Flemish painting is represented in the collection with Garden of Eden By Jan Brueghel the Elder and Table Covered with Vases of Flowers by Jan van Kessel the Elder (1626-79). Landscape with Windmill and Dancing Figures is an excellent example of French painting by Claude Lorrain (1600-82).

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