{"id":809,"date":"2026-03-20T11:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T15:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=809"},"modified":"2026-05-02T18:33:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T22:33:38","slug":"palazzo-corsini","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/?page_id=809","title":{"rendered":"Palazzo\u00a0Corsini\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Riario\u00a0family in\u00a0the\u00a015th<\/sup>\u00a0century\u00a0constructed\u00a0the\u00a0imposing\u00a0late-Baroque palace,\u00a0the\u00a0Palazzo Corsini<\/strong>, designed by\u00a0Ferdinando Fuga.\u00a0<\/strong>The current palace\u00a0represents\u00a0the 17th<\/sup>\u00a0alteration of the original.\u00a0Its predecessor, the Riario\u00a0Palace, had\u00a0hosted\u00a0the\u00a0eccentric\u00a0Queen Christina\u00a0of\u00a0Sweden<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>from 1659 till her death in 1689.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After\u00a0her\u00a0conversion\u00a0to\u00a0Catholicism\u00a0Queen\u00a0Christina\u00a0abdicated\u00a0the\u00a0Swedish throne in 1654 and moved to the\u00a0City.\u00a0She lived the last 30 years of\u00a0here\u00a0life here and died in a room that is now part of the Corsini Galleria<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several of Napoleon\u2019s relatives lived in the palace in the late 18th<\/sup> and early 19th<\/sup> centuries: Joseph Bonaparte<\/strong>, Napoleon\u2019s brother during the Napoleonic occupation; Eugene de Beauharnais<\/strong>, Napoleon\u2019s stepson; Cardinal Joseph Fesch<\/strong>, the half-brother of Napoleon\u2019s mother and ambassador to the Republic of Rome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, the palace hosts the Galleria Corsini, Rome\u2019s\u00a0National Gallery of Antique Art (<\/strong>Post-1000 AD art).\u00a0Most pieces derive from the Corsini family collections of multiple family members including Pope Clement XII. The Italian State\u00a0acquired\u00a0in 1883 the palace and its artworks and the pieces of the collection remain in their original places. Most of the art is Italian,\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a015th to\u00a0the\u00a0late-18th\u00a0century,\u00a0and\u00a0its\u00a0most\u00a0prominent artists include: Cavalier\u00a0d\u2019Arpino\u00a0(Resurrection of Lazarus); Annibale Caracci (St. Francis);\u00a0Caravaggio (St. John the Baptist)<\/span><\/strong>; Bartolome Estban Murillo (Madonna with Bambino); Guercino (Apollo and Marsyas); Nicholas Poussin (Triumph of Ovid); Guido Reni (Beatrice Cenci, Magdalen, Ecce Homo, Salome, Herod,\u00a0St.Joseph); Peter Paul Rubens (St. Sebastian).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Palazzo Corsini stands across the street from its even more famous counterpart,\u00a0the\u00a0Villa\u00a0Farnesina<\/span><\/strong>, designed\u00a0by\u00a0Baldassare Peruzzi and built in 1510 for Agostino Chigi,\u00a0the very wealthy papal banker. So\u00a0splendid\u00a0was it that when Pope Julius paid a visit during its construction, he asked Chigi\u00a0if the palazzo be more beautiful than that of the Riario palace, the owner replied\u00a0that\u00a0\u2018his\u00a0stables\u00a0would\u00a0be\u00a0more\u00a0elegant\u00a0than\u00a0the\u00a0Riario\u00a0dining\u00a0room\u2019.\u00a0The Villa was\u00a0acquired\u00a0in 1577 by the Farnese family whose palace was\u00a0located\u00a0across the Tiber River. Michelangelo\u00a0initiated\u00a0a project, never fully implemented, to connect the two properties with a bridge spanning the river.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Apart from its unusual splendor and beauty, the palace attracts visitors because\u00a0of if\u00a0frescoes, painted by\u00a0Raphael (Loggia of Galatea)<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>and other eminent High Renaissance artists.\u00a0A Chigi family member, Pope Alexander VII<\/strong>, in the next century became one the most ardent supporters of\u00a0the\u00a0newly\u00a0emerging\u00a0Baroque\u00a0art\u00a0form\u00a0and\u00a0its\u00a0major\u00a0representatives,\u00a0Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Riario\u00a0family in\u00a0the\u00a015th\u00a0century\u00a0constructed\u00a0the\u00a0imposing\u00a0late-Baroque palace,\u00a0the\u00a0Palazzo Corsini, designed by\u00a0Ferdinando Fuga.\u00a0The current palace\u00a0represents\u00a0the 17th\u00a0alteration of the original.\u00a0Its predecessor, the Riario\u00a0Palace, had\u00a0hosted\u00a0the\u00a0eccentric\u00a0Queen Christina\u00a0of\u00a0Sweden\u00a0from 1659 till her death in 1689.\u00a0 After\u00a0her\u00a0conversion\u00a0to\u00a0Catholicism\u00a0Queen\u00a0Christina\u00a0abdicated\u00a0the\u00a0Swedish throne in 1654 and moved to the\u00a0City.\u00a0She lived the last 30 years of\u00a0here\u00a0life here and died in a room that is now part of the Corsini Galleria.\u00a0 Several of Napoleon\u2019s relatives lived in the palace in the late 18th and early 19th centuries: Joseph Bonaparte,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-809","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/romeguide.hcc-nd.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}