The Palazzo Colonna is a palatial block of buildings in central Rome, Italy, at the base of the Quirinal Hill, and adjacent to the church of Santi Apostoli. It is built in part over ruins of an old Roman Serapeum, and has belonged to the prestigious Colonna family for over twenty generations.

The first part of the palace dates from the XIII century, and tradition holds that the building hosted Dante in his visit to Rome. The first documentary mention notes that the property hosted Cardinal Giovanni and Giacomo Colonna in the 1200s. It was also home to Cardinal Oddone Colona before he ascended to the papacy as Martin V (1415-1430).

The main gallery (completed 1703) and the masterful Colonna art collection was acquired after 1650 by both the cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew the Connestabile Lorenzo Onofrio and includes works by Lorenzo Monaco, Ghirlandaio, Palma il Vecchio, Salviati, Bronzino, Tintoretto, Cortona, Annibale Carracci (The Beaneater) Guercino, Albani, Muziano and Guido Reni. Ceiling frescoes by Filippo Gherardi, Giovanni Coli, Sebastiano Ricci, and Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari celebrate the role of Marcantonio II Colonna in the battle of Lepanto (1571). An Apotheosis of Martin V was painted by Benedetto Luti. There are frescoed apartments completed after 1664 by Crescenzio Onofri, Claude Lorraine and Pieter Mulier (nicknamed Cavalier Tempesta). Other rooms were frescoed in 1700s by Pompeo Batoni and Pietro Bianchi.

The older wing of the complex known as the Princess Isabelle's apartments, but once housing Martin V's library and palace, contains frescoes by Pinturicchio, Antonio Tempesta, Onofri, Lorraine, Giacinto Gimignani, and Carlo Cesi. It contains a collection of landscapes and genre scenes by painters like Lorraine, Caspar Van Wittel (Vanvitelli), and Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Along with the possessions of the Doria-Pamphilij and Pallavacini-Rospigliosi families, this is one of the largest private art collections in Rome.

• Address
  
  Palazzo Colonna - Piazza SS. Apostoli 66 - 00187 - Roma
  
• Phone
  
  +39 06.6784350
  
•  Opening Hours
   
  Saturday from 9.00 am to 1 pm (August Closed)
  
• Tickets
  
  7.00 EUR
  
• Website
  
  http://www.galleriacolonna.it/
  

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