Palazzo Barberini Historical Timeline

Last updated on September 29, 2026

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A vineyard, then a Sforza villa, then the seat of a papal family — built by three architects who did not entirely agree with one another.

Chronology

c. 1549 — Cardinal Alessandro Sforza acquires the garden and vineyard of Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi on the Quirinal Hill, and the Sforza family builds a palazzetto on the sloping, semi-urban site. Structural impact: a modest villa stands where the palace will be. What you see today: the Sforza wing, facing Piazza Barberini — it was never pulled down.
1623 — Maffeo Barberini (Florence 1568 – Rome 1644) is elected Pope and takes the name Urban VIII. Structural impact: none yet, but the family suddenly has the means and the reason to build. What you see today: the three bees of the Barberini arms, under the papal tiara and keys, all over the building.
1625 — Urban VIII buys the site from Alessandro Sforza, Duca di Segni, for his nephews, newly invested with honours and responsibilities, and commissions Carlo Maderno — then at work extending the nave of St Peter's — to build a family residence. Structural impact: the brief is set: enclose the Villa Sforza in a vast block on the lines of Palazzo Farnese. What you see today: the scale, which is a Farnese ambition rather than a villa one.
1627 — Maderno begins, assisted by his nephew Francesco Borromini. Structural impact: instead of demolishing the villa Maderno incorporates it, joining the Sforza wing to a parallel wing by a central hall and producing the innovative H-shaped plan. What you see today: the open-winged shape, and a garden front that behaves like a suburban villa attached to an urban palace.
1629 — Maderno dies. Borromini is passed over and the commission to oversee construction goes to Gian Lorenzo Bernini, a young prodigy then better known as a sculptor. Borromini stays on regardless and the two work together. Structural impact: two very different architectural minds are set loose on one building. What you see today: the two staircases — Bernini's square-shafted one and Borromini's oval helicoidal one — which are the argument in stone.
1630s — Pietro da Cortona paints the salon ceiling with the Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power. Structural impact: the central hall becomes the point of the whole building. What you see today: a vast panegyric that became the model for palatial and church ceilings across Europe, its influence visible at Sant'Ignazio and beyond.
1822–1834 — the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen keeps a studio in the palace's stables. Structural impact: none to the palace. What you see today: the monument to him that the building houses.
20th century — the palace becomes the home of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica. Structural impact: a private residence is converted to a national gallery. What you see today: Raphael, Caravaggio and Holbein hung in the rooms the Barberini lived in.

Verified against Wikipedia, September 2026.

External Resources

Sources & verification Covers the sourced claims on this page.

Checked against Wikipedia — Around 1549 Cardinal Alessandro Sforza came into possession of the garden and vineyard of Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi on the Quirinal Hill, where the Sforza family had a palazzetto built, and the sloping semi-urban site was purchased in 1625 from Alessandro Sforza, Duca di Segni, by Maffeo Barberini, who became Pope Urban VIII; Carlo Maderno, then at work extending the nave of St Peter's, was commissioned to enclose the Villa Sforza within a vast Renaissance block along the lines of Palazzo Farnese, The design evolved into a precedent-setting combination of an urban seat of princely power with a garden front that had the nature of a suburban villa with a semi-enclosed garden; Maderno began in 1627 assisted by his nephew Francesco Borromini, and when Maderno died in 1629 Borromini was passed over and the commission to oversee construction was awarded to Bernini, a young prodigy then better known as a sculptor, while Borromini stayed on regardless and the two architects worked together, On the salon ceiling is a Baroque fresco by Pietro da Cortona, the Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power, and this vast panegyric allegory became highly influential in guiding decoration for palatial and church ceilings, its influence visible in other panoramic scenes such as the frescoed ceilings at Sant'Ignazio by Pozzo; the palace also houses a monument to Bertel Thorvaldsen, who had a studio in the nearby stables of the Palazzo Barberini in 1822 to 1834 (September 2026).
Checked against Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica — Palazzo Barberini e Galleria Corsini — Palazzo Barberini is the prototypical Baroque palace, designed by three of the most important architects of the 1600s, Carlo Maderno, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini; in 1623 Maffeo Barberini was elected Pope and took the name Urban VIII, and two years later acquired a villa on the Quirinal Hill owned by the Sforza family for his nephews, commissioning Carlo Maderno to transform it into the family's new residence, Instead of demolishing the villa the architect incorporated it into a new project, so that the Sforza wing facing the current Piazza Barberini is connected to the other parallel wing by a central hall, giving the building the innovative shape of an H, and Maderno created an open-winged structure containing an immense garden with rare plants, secret courtyards and formal gardens, The palazzo is entered today from via delle Quattro Fontane through the portico facade, on which is raised a false glass loggia designed in all likelihood by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who in 1629 succeeded Carlo Maderno in overseeing the construction; the pulsing heart of the building is the majestic entrance hall with frescoes by Pietro da Cortona, reached by a square-shafted staircase designed by Bernini on one side and by an extraordinary oval helicoidal staircase on the other (September 2026).

Palazzo Barberini Historical Timeline

Chronology

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