9 Palazzo Colonna

EVERY SATURDAY MORNING, the Colonnas (Rome’s most illustrious family), host a spectacular open house, welcoming visitors to the downstairs salons of their palazzo. They still live on the upper floors, but since the seventeenth century they’ve been regularly showing off their wealth and power to the awestruck public. Don’t be surprised if you see a Colonna prince milling about. When I was last there, I got distracted by a smiling signor in a well-tailored suit, who stood apart, surveying the scene. “That was Don Prospero,” my tour guide reverently whispered, as we moved on to the next dazzling room.

The Colonna’s piano nobile was remodeled in the days of the Palace of Versailles. It’s an explosion of Baroque: dramatic ceiling murals bursting with smiling putti and flowers, enormous Murano glass chandeliers, tapestries, gilded mirrors, Greek statues, a majestic throne room built for the fifteenthth-century Colonna Pope, Marco V. The masterpiece painting collection includes Annibale Carracci’s The Beaneater—a hilarious contrast to the gorgeousness, featuring a peasant hovered over his bowl of beans, who Van Gogh later used for inspiration.

The family shouts out their nine centuries of triumph with their crest (a column) all over the place, along with paintings of their superhero ancestor, Marcantonio II, who in 1571 led the papal fleet to win the Battle of Lepanto. This was a key battle in European history—the Ottoman Empire was defeated off the coast of Greece, making Christians victorious over Muslim rule. You’ll see Marcantonio on the ceiling in combat, being crowned by the Virgin, entering into heaven.

The Great Hall is the climax of all the opulence, where visitors of yesteryear would greet the resident Colonna nobility, honoring them as though they were goddesses and gods. This is also where the last scene of Roman Holiday was shot—where Princess Audrey presides at a press conference in one of cinema’s most poignant scenes, followed by Gregory Peck walking away, alone in this expanse, transformed into a man of integrity.

Let’s focus on some of the extraordinary, courageous Colonna women who are celebrated here:

Vittoria’s portrait hangs in the upper level of the Great Hall. She’s dressed in green silk, with a widow’s headdress and penetrating gaze. She was married off to an army captain, who was often away in battle, inspiring her to hone her love-letter writing skills. When she was 35, he died of a war injury. Instead of following the traditional widow’s route—joining a nunnery or having her family arrange yet another advantageous marriage to further the Colonna line—Vittoria dedicated herself to writing poetry. She hosted artists’ and writers’ salons at a castle in Ischia and then in Rome, where she preferred holding court at the Convent of San Silvestro, rather than this family palazzo. It was in Rome where an intense life-long, platonic friendship between Vittoria and Michelangelo took hold. The two read Dante together, wrote poems to each other, and became followers of the Oratory of Divine Love, a humanist group that was seeking church reform.

Marie is the ravishing dark-eyed beauty you’ll find in the Sala del Baldacchino. She was one of five gorgeous Mancini sisters, who (after the death of their aristocratic father) were brought from Rome to France by their shrewd mother. With their exotic Mediterranean looks, the Mancini girls caused a sensation amongst Parisians. Marie became the first love of Louis XIV, aka The Sun King, who showered her with jewels and affection. Sadly, Marie’s mother and Louis’s mother did not see this bond as a good thing, so Marie was shipped back to Rome and married off to a Colonna: Prince Lorenzo Onofrio.

The union began joyfully—Marie bore three children and brought her love of the French decorative arts to inspire the floral room here. She and hubby Lorenzo were beloved for their hosting of colorful balls at the palazzo. But at the eleven-year-marriage point, in 1672, she’d had enough of Lorenzo’s philandering. In a jealous rage, she left Rome, teamed up with her glamorous sister Hortense, and the two set off defying their husbands, as adventurous ladies, kind of a seventeenth-century Thelma and Louise. They publically took on lovers, and sometimes disguised themselves as men, gambling, and becoming tabloid sensations. When Marie’s money ran out, she wrote and sold her memoirs, to ensure that her true story be told.

The apartments are named for this family heroine, a Lebanese banking heiress who married into the Colonna family in 1909. Black and white photos of Isabelle can be found in her lavish reception rooms, where she appears as a formidable figure, dressed in stiff brocade with an impeccably styled hairdo. Isabelle arrived here as a Colonna bride when wars began to rage, and she deftly helped to steer the family to take its right place amidst Rome’s political and papal worlds. A woman who lived her convictions, she stood up against the Nazis and sheltered Jews here during World War II.

Princess Isabelle was fiercely committed to preserving this place and lived here until her death in 1984. I am especially grateful to her for the room of the Vanvitelli landscapes collection. They’re charming, detailed renditions of what Rome looked like in the eighteenth century—that is the Tiber without its embankments, the Trinita dei Monti before there were Spanish Steps. It opens me up to yet another layer of this amazing city, reminding me that places I love here have been beloved eternally.

Galleria Colonna: Piazza SS Apostoli 66, open Saturdays only, 9-1:15, tours in English offered at 11:45 (www.galleriacolonna.it)

Golden Day: After your Galleria Colonna visit, an obvious dining choice may be Open Colonna, a chic Michelin-starred restaurant on the rooftop of the Palazzo delle Espozioni, (Via Milano 9a, 06 478 22641, closed Sunday and Monday nights, www.opencolonna.it), that offers a low-priced brunch buffet. If you’d like something more traditional, head to the nearby Monti neighborhood’s La Taverna dei Fiori Imperiali, a family-run place that serves up classic Roman pastas, seasonal specialties, and delicious desserts. (Via della Madonna dei Monti 9, 06 679 8643, closed Tuesday, www.latavernadeiforiimperiali.com)

TIP: It costs fifteen euros extra to tour the Princess Isabella apartments, with the option offered after the main thirty-minute tour. Tickets must be purchased in cash, so come prepared.