Galleria Spada - entrance tickets

A hidden gem in one of the most popular areas of Rome. Not far from the famous Piazza Farnese and Campo de' Fiori, Palazzo Spada will amaze you especially with extraordinary Galleria Prospettica del Borromini (Borromini's Perspectival Gallery). Realized between 1652 and 1653, the gallery is an exceptional example of trompe-l'oeil, a false perspective in the entrance hall accessing the typical perspectival courtyard from the Baroque period. The decreasing height of the columns, the rising floor and converging walls create the optical illusion of a tunnel more than 35 meters long, while in reality it's only 9 meters.

The adjacent rooms of the Galleria Spada are home to works by Jan Brueghel the Elder, Artemisia Gentileschi, Orazio Gentileschi, Guercino, Mattia Preti, Guido Reni, Titian. It's about the private collection of Cardinal Bernardino Spada, consisting of paintings (especially from the seventeenth century), ancient sculptures, decors and antique furniture. Following the marriage of the heiress Maria Veralli and Orazio Spada in 1636, many works, both ancient and contemporary, of great importance became part of the collection.