Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica

The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, or National Gallery of Ancient Art, is the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome, Italy, primarily focusing on works created before 1800. Despite its name, the museum does not hold antiquities. It is distinguished by its dual locations, occupying two historic Roman residences: the Palazzo Barberini and the Palazzo Corsini. The collection features major works of Italian and European painting, including pieces by Raphael, Caravaggio, Hans Holbein the Younger, Titian, and Pietro da Cortona.

The gallery was established in 1893, initially housed solely in the Palazzo Corsini before expanding to include the Palazzo Barberini in the 1950s. The museum's holdings grew significantly through strategic acquisitions and private donations. Key early additions included the Torlonia and Monte di Pieta collections in 1892, the donation from Henriette Hertz in 1915, and the purchase of the Chigi collection in 1918. Later, increased autonomy facilitated further important acquisitions, such as Pompeo Batoni's Portrait of Abbondio Rezzonico, Giovanni Lanfranco's Death of Cleopatra, and Simone Cantarini's Portrait of Cardinal Antonio Barberini.

The collection's strength lies in its comprehensive survey of Italian and European painting from the Renaissance through the eighteenth century. Holdings span from early Italian masters like Fra Angelico and Filippo Lippi to Baroque innovators such as Caravaggio and Bernini. The scope extends beyond the Italian peninsula, incorporating significant Northern European works by Hans Holbein the Younger, Quentin Massys, and Peter Paul Rubens. The Corsini site largely comprises works donated by the Corsini family, originally gathered by an avid seventeenth-century collector, while the Barberini site features works acquired by the state.

The Palazzo Barberini houses Raphael's La Fornarina (1518-1519), Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes (1599) and Narcissus, Hans Holbein the Younger's Portrait of Henry VIII, and Filippo Lippi's Madonna of Tarquinia (1437). Other Barberini highlights include Guercino's Et in Arcadia ego, El Greco's Adoration of the Shepherds and Baptism of Christ, and Pietro da Cortona's Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power on the central salone ceiling. The Palazzo Corsini holds Caravaggio's Saint John the Baptist, Fra Angelico's Triptych of the Last Judgement, Peter Paul Rubens's Saint Sebastian Tended by Angels, and Guido Reni's Salome with the Head of John the Baptist.

The Palazzo Barberini was designed for Pope Urban VIII by architect Carlo Maderno on the former site of the Villa Sforza. Following Maderno's death, the building was expanded by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, the latter adding an oval staircase. Pietro da Cortona painted the grand salon ceiling between 1633 and 1639. The Palazzo Corsini, originally known as the Palazzo Riario, is a fifteenth-century structure rebuilt in the eighteenth century by architect Ferdinando Fuga for Cardinal Neri Maria Corsini. A second-century Mithraeum was discovered in the cellars of the Palazzo Barberini.

The gallery operates across its two palazzo sites in Rome, both accessible to the public. After World War II, the Palazzo Barberini became state property, though a portion was occupied by the Italian Ministry of Defense. In 2006, this section was restored and returned to the museum, fully uniting the building for exhibition purposes. The institution operates under the Italian Ministry of Culture and maintains an official presence online. Visitors can access the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome between the Barberini and Corsini locations.