[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A stone’s throw away from Via del Corso and Trevi Fountain is Galleria Sciarra (Sciarra Gallery), a stunning walkway full of incredible Art Nouveau paintings, that inevitably attract the attention of anyone who is lucky enough to come across them
Galleria Sciarra
Walking through the center there are countless attractions that catch the eye of any visitor, starting from the remains of the ancient Roman civilization, passing through the more sparkling baroque churches, up to the famous twentieth-century buildings that sometimes hide real secret treasures, as is the case with Palazzo Sciarra in via Marco Minghetti. Prince Maffeo Barberini Colonna decided to transform this building into an admirable work of art by decorating the Gallery, that still today is one of the most picturesque and successful examples of architecture and decorative arts of the late nineteenth century.
Author of the work is the Perugian architect Giulio De Angelis, who also designed Villa Sciarra on the Janiculum Hill for the prince, and who, in the same years, also built Palazzo Bocconi near Via del Corso – known for having been the seat of La Rinascente for many years – according to the dictates of the new architectures in iron and glass that, between 800 and 900, were popular throughout Europe.
In addition to the famous glass cover with iron ribs, cast iron is also extensively used at Galleria Sciarra, starting from the entrance portals on via Mario Minghetti and on Piazza dell’Oratorio up to the slender pillars in the whole gallery area.
The Decorations and the Liberty Style
The most striking feature of the Gallery is certainly its decoration, which was created by the painter Gabriele Cellini, and designed by the scholar Giulio Salvatori: the representation has as its protagonist the woman who is painted in the figures of ‘La Pudica’ (the priggish), ‘La Sobria’ (the sober), ‘La Forte’ (the strong), ‘L’Umile’ (the humble),’La Prudente’ (the cautious), ‘La Paziente’ (the patient), ‘La Benigna’ (the good), ‘La Signora’ (the lady), ‘La Fedele’ (the faithful), ‘L’Amabile’ (the lovable), ‘La Misericordiosa’ (the generous), among which are inserted a series of Greek, Etruscan, geometric and vegetal decorative motifs in Liberty style, that would triumph throughout Europe in a few years. In particular, the woman to whom the painter refers is Carolina Colonna Sciarra, woman par excellence as mother of Prince Maffeo, exalted through the use of the letters CCS, which represent the acronym of her name and are found in the shields bearing the emblems of the Barberini and Colonna families.
This new gallery connected the spaces of the private property of M. Barberini with those of his working activity: the prince, in fact, owned the newspaper La Tribuna, that, in a few years, he had turned into one of the most important Italian political newspapers, with the collaboration of S. Barzilai, V. Morello, E. Scarfoglio, M. Serao, as well as Gabriele D’Annunzio, who was then director of another magazine, financed by Maffeo Barberini as well, called Cronaca Bizantina.
More information at: la pagina del comune di Roma su Galleria Sciarra
Article by Arda Lelo [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
