Thanks to the collaboration between the Embassies of the Sovereign Order to the Italian Republic and to the Holy See, it was possible to organise a special visit to the splendid Council of State and Spada Gallery, dedicated to the Heads of Mission.
The Ambassadors were able to visit the splendid Palace, built in 1540 by Cardinal Giacomo Recanati Capodiferro, then purchased in 1632 by Cardinal Bernardino Spada, who commissioned Francesco Borromini to enlarge and modify it to house his numerous collections of works of art.
Cardinal Bernardino’s nephew, Cardinal Fabrizio Spada, Secretary of State of Innocent XII, who was also a great collector, contributed to the enrichment of the collections, which have come down to us practically intact thanks to a far-sighted 19th-century fedecommissum.
It is a rare case of a 17th-century residence that preserves an original and contemporary Baroque picture gallery with works by the greatest artists of the time, including Guido Reni and Guercino, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Dürer and Rubens, and many others. There are also numerous works from the archaeological collection on display in the Saloni.
The tour ended in the Secret Garden where Borromini’s ‘Galleria Prospettica’ is located.