The Great Hall at Palazzo Colonna: its history, builders and ceiling
Size, and what the sources describe
The room’s dimensions are not given in the published sources.
So: the operator does not give the Great Hall’s dimensions. Nor does the city. Nor does the encyclopedia entry on the palace.
What can be described instead
It is one room, and that is the whole design. The gallery was built as a single space to be seen whole, which is a different ambition from a suite of rooms with things in them, and it is why the Great Hall reads as an event rather than as a stop on a route. You come up a short flight of stairs, past a cannonball lodged in the masonry, and the building opens.
That single-room design is also why a film crew could put a press conference in it in 1953 without dressing anything — the ending of Roman Holiday is this room, and it is the only scene the palace claims.
Who built it, and where the sources disagree
The gallery was established in 1654 by Cardinal Girolamo I Colonna and his nephew Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna. The architect was Antonio del Grande. After his death in 1671 the work was, in the city’s phrase, “integrated by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Johan Paul Schor and Carlo Fontana”.
The sources differ on two points, and both versions are given here.
| The question | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Which Fontana | The city says Carlo Fontana; other published accounts say Girolamo. |
| When it was finished | The operator says the gallery was inaugurated in 1700, and the city says the vault was completed in 1702. A completion date of 1703 also circulates. |
The ceiling, and the battle on it
The vault was completed in 1702 and painted by Schor, Coli, Gherardi, Ricci and Chiari. What it shows is episodes from the life of Marcantonio II Colonna — including the Battle of Lepanto of 1571, at which he commanded the papal fleet.
That is the thing to look up at and know before you do. A family painted its own ancestor’s sea battle across the ceiling of the room it received people in, and then received people in it. The family page has the rest of them.
Where it falls on the route
Second. You come through the Hall of the Colonna Bellica, up the stairs with the cannonball in them, and into the Great Hall; the Room of the Throne, the Tapestry Room, the Yellow Room, the Chapel Room, the Primitive Room and the Embroidery Room follow, and the gardens come after those. The full route is here.
If you are on a Saturday you have from 9:15 to 13:15 and nobody moving you along. The room rewards standing still in it longer than feels reasonable, which is not advice that holds in most galleries.
Read next
- The cannonball on the stairs below it.
- The film scene shot in this room.
- What hangs around it.
- When you can stand in it.
Frequently asked questions
How big is the Great Hall at Palazzo Colonna?
What is documented is that the gallery was established in 1654 and opened in 1700.
Who designed the Galleria Colonna?
Antonio del Grande. After his death in 1671 the work was integrated by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Johan Paul Schor and a Fontana — the city says Carlo and other accounts say Girolamo, so this site names both.
What is painted on the ceiling of the Great Hall?
Episodes from the life of Marcantonio II Colonna, including the Battle of Lepanto of 1571, where he commanded the papal fleet. The vault was completed in 1702 by Schor, Coli, Gherardi, Ricci and Chiari.