Rome is full of very rich museums and beautiful exhibitions but, from last October and until the beginning of March, there is a new extraordinary place to visit. For the beauty and the history of the palace that is opened to the public for the first time, the Bonaparte Palace built buy Govanni De Rossi between 1657 and 1677 in an elegant mixture of Renaissance and Baroque style where Maria Letizia Ramolino Bonaparte, Napoleon’s mother, lived for long years, from 1818 to her death in 1836. But also and mostly for the magic of the colours and the lights of the fifty Impressionist’s and post-impressionist’s masterpieces that are exhibited in the splendidly decorated Letizia’s drawing rooms.
Most of them for the first and, perhaps, the last time. In fact, they all belong to private collections and are just loaned for a few month. That is why they are “secret” even if they are all great name’s paintings - Renoir, Cézanne, Monet, Gauguin, Seurat, Berthe Morisot, Caillebotte, Pissaro, Sisley…
They are all recognizable of course. The Renoir young girls beautiful portraits, the vibration of Gauguin or Pissaro landscapes, the warm atmosphere of Caillebotte’s little French towns etc... But they are also, in a certain sense, new for us. And discovering something new of a beauty that we already know is very pleasant. This splendid exhibition confirms that impressionism was, without any doubt, one of the greatest periods in the history of painting. And, even if it was built much earlier, the Bonaparte palace appears just the right place to admire these “secret impressionists”.
The visit of the palace offers also many other surprises. The beautiful fresco with a predominance of 2 colours, red and gold, a Canova’s sculpture (a copy, the original was taken by Wellington and can be admired in Apsley House in London) representing Napoleon as “Mars the peacemaker”.
A contradiction in terms! And a delicious “secret” place: a very curious balcony, or more exactly a closed loggia, on the corner of the first floor. It is there that Napoleon’ s mother, Letizia, used to stay for hours, watching what happened in the hearth of Rome, in the central Via Del Corso and Piazza Venezia in a complete incognito, nobody could see her.
You cannot miss this unusual roman rendez-vous!
Palazzo Bonaparte
Piazza Venezia 5
Tel 06 8715111
www.mostrepalazzobonaparte.it
Opened from Monday to Friday from 9 to 7 pm
On Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 9pm.
Until the 8 march 2020.
Palazzo Bonaparte
Piazza Venezia 5
Tel 06 8715111
www.mostrepalazzobonaparte.it
Opened from Monday to Friday from 9 to 7 pm
On Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 9pm.
Until the 8 march 2020.
