Galleria Doria-Pamphilj

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Palazzo Doria Pamphilj

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The Galleria Doria Pamphilj boasts one of the finest private collections of art in Italy. The collection was begun in 1651 by Pope Innocent X (r. 1644-55), who was a member of the Pamphilj family. Over a century later, in 1760, Prince Andrea Doria IV added his own family's bequests. 

The collection also boasts works by Fra Filippo Lippi, Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio and Alessandro Algardi, to name but a few.  ​​

Galleria degli Specchi

​The spectacular Galleria degli Specchi (Gallery of the Mirrors) was designed by the Roman architect Gabriele Valvassori (1683-1761).

Pope Innocent X by Velazquez

The most famous painting in the gallery is, without doubt, the portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velazquez (1599-1660), which the English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds hailed as the 'finest picture in Rome'. The portrait was painted around 1650 and depicts Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, who was pope from 1644 to 1655. Innocent X, who was in his mid seventies when he sat for Velázquez, was famous for his ugliness. However, this has been somewhat softened in the painting. The pope stares out of the picture at the spectator. In his left hand he holds a piece of paper, which Velázquez has used to identify himself. 

In the middle of the 19th century Prince Filippo Andrea Doria Pamphilj V, wanting to isolate the portrait from the rest of his collection, had a special chamber built for it by the architect Andrea Busiri Vici (1818-1911). 

Bust of Pope Innocent X by Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The gallery also possesses fine busts of Pope Innocent X by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654), a gifted sculptor from Bologna, who worked mainly in Rome.  

Bust of Olimpia Maidalchini (1646-47) by Alessandro Algardi

The gallery is home to a striking bust of Olimpia Maidalchini (1591-1657), the sister-in-law of Innocent X, who was known as la Papessa, on account of the strength of her alleged influence on the pope. The bust is by Alessandro Algardi.

Donna Olimpia, who lived in Palazzo Pamphilj, in Piazza Navona, was also known as la Pimpaccia.  A stone's throw from the palazzo was the famous talking statue of Pasquino. Donna Olimpia was not a popular figure (her greed was legendary) and she was often the butt of satire. One such lampoon, which appeared on the statue, made a pun on her name: Olim Pia, Nunc Pia (Once pious, now impious). Another appeared when Pope Innocent X died: È morto il pastore, la vacca ci resta (the shepherd is dead, the cow remains). 
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Donna Olimpia did not actually remain for long in Rome following the pope's death. She retreated to her estate near Viterbo, but not before she is said to have stolen two trunks of gold coin from under the Holy Father's death-bed!  

To be continued...

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Gallery