Palazzo Barberini is a splendid baroque building, home to the National Gallery of Ancient Art. Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the palace was able to surpass in beauty the most luxurious residences of the Roman nobility of the seventeenth century. In 1623, Maffeo Barberini, now appointed Pope (Urban VIII), ordered the design of a large palace to the architect Carlo Maderno, who had previously been commissioned to design the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Work began in 1625 and was completed in 1633 by Bernini.
