As if Rome didn’t already have enough to offer us in terms of art and history, there’s one more grand palazzo not to be missed.

Palazzo Bonaparte, once the home of Napoleon’s mother, Letizia Bonaparte, recently opened as a cultural exhibition space. Its first showing is of Impressionist works from private collections and is on display until early March. But even if you can’t get to Rome by then, Palazzo Bonaparte is a work of art in and of itself and definitely worth your time.

The palazzo is at the iconic Piazza Venezia, directly opposite the equally iconic Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II. Designed by architect Giovanni Antonio de Rossi on behalf of the Marquis of Aste, the palazzo is a beautiful melding of Baroque and Renaissance elements and French and Italian culture. There is a rooftop loggia with windows on all sides and every room that I was lucky to see on a recent trip to Rome was a stunning masterpiece with ornate ceilings, walls and floors. The entrance hall and stairways leading to upper floors offer clean, elongated views.

Once in the upstairs rooms, it’s hard to decide where to look first: the frescoes perhaps? The marble fireplaces? The reliefs? Beauty lies in every corner, every direction. And then, on this visit, there’s the actual hanging art: 50 original works make up the exhibition, “Impressionisti Segreti” (“Secret Impressionists” because the works are rarely seen by the public).

Artists such as Monet, Pissarro and Renoir are featured in the show and the palazzo curators provide interesting and succinct information about each piece, as well as longer and fascinating insights into the palazzo as you make your way from room to room.

My mouth was agape at every turn. Even looking out the windows of the palazzo took my breath away – how could it not? The views are of one of Rome’s most beautiful areas.

In the mid-1700s, the palazzo passed into the hands of Marquis Rinuccini of Florence. In the early 1800s, Antonio Canova sculpted Mars the Peacemaker, a neo-classic representation of Napoleon, a replication work that graces the first floor of the palazzo today.

Napoleon’s mother purchased the building in 1818 as her home. The Bonaparte name has adorned the structure ever since.  -post by Judy

Information: http://www.palazzobonaparte.it/