Galleria Spada

Located in an exquisite mansion built in the mid-sixteenth century, the Galleria Spada shows a small collection of art from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The mansion's main attraction is the Borromini’s false perspective gallery.

Exhibitions

Galleria Spada

Galleria Spada Collection

The collection, largely assembled by Cardinal Bernardino Spada, consists of different works from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, showing the Spada family’s great interest in collecting and promoting the art of their time.

One of the gallery’s biggest attractions is located in the courtyard. It is the false perspective of Borromini, a gallery that is 9 meters long but appears to be 40 meters long. As the walls narrow, the floor rises and the height decreases. The artist thus makes the small sculpture at the end of the gallery seem normal in size.

The exhibits are arranged in four rooms in the style of the seventeenth century, with smaller paintings placed closely together at the top and large paintings at the bottom, thus demonstrating an apparent disorder.

A waste of time

Borromini's perspective required the help of a mathematician, and although it was a great work for the time when it was made, we believe that it is not worth spending time and money visiting the Galleria Spada. Rome has much better places to visit.