Another lovely morning for breakfast on the terrace and, even better, it is the first Sunday of the month so quite a lot of museums are free today.
We head out to Palazzo Barberini and spend the morning enjoying the glorious treasures within.
Obviously we love the stars of the collection such as Raphael's La Fornarina, the baker's daughter who was the artists lover.
This painting becomes even more interesting when you hear that during restoration, a ring was discovered on the left hand. leading to the belief that Raphael & La Fornarina were secretly married.
However it is another bride that steals the show for me.
The Bride was painted by a Dutch painter, Jan Cornelisz Verspronck whom I had never heard of but, as I discovered later, was the prefered artist of female sitters for the realistic way he portrayed jewelry and lace. I couldn't take my eyes off the gorgeous velvet gown and ruff but I also loved the look on the girls face and couldn't decide whether she was smug or just sweetly pleased at the idea of the marriage.
We moved on to the stone staircases of the great rivals, Bernini
and Borromini.
We decided that, in this case, Borromini was the winner.
Finally to the glorious frescoed ceiling of the Gran Salone where the Barberini bees are very much in evidence.
We make our way back to the apartment, stopping off at Tram Depot for 'post culture drinkies'
Another 'Five Quarters' recipe for lunch, linguine with courgettes, pecorino & eggs.
We spent the afternoon chilling on the terrace before deciding whether to hit yet another free entry museum or go for gelato.
Gelato won.
Aperitivo on the terrace tonight while a roast chicken cooks in the oven for dinner.
