The Doria Pamphilj family still lives in this palace. Their private apartments occupy the upper floors while the gallery — four wings of paintings hung floor to ceiling in the 18th-century manner, 1,000+ works — is open to the public below. The star is Velázquez's portrait of Pope Innocent X (1650), which Francis Bacon obsessively repainted dozens of times and called the most terrifying painting in existence. The pope stares at you with such intensity that you feel judged, seen through, and found wanting. Around him: two Caravaggios (Rest on the Flight into Egypt — one of his most tender works — and the Penitent Magdalene), a Bernini bust of Innocent X, Titian, Memling, a Claude Lorrain that Turner studied, and more paintings than most national museums own. Rome guide →
Plan my Rome trip →Velázquez — Ritratto di Innocenzo X (1650): The greatest portrait ever painted, according to many art historians (and Francis Bacon). The pope sits in a red chair, wearing a red mozzetta and white rochet. His expression is suspicious, shrewd, and merciless. Velázquez captured POWER — not the ceremonial kind but the raw human kind. The pope himself reportedly said it was "troppo vero" — too real. It hangs in a small private room at the end of the gallery. You turn a corner and there it is.
Caravaggio — Riposo durante la fuga in Egitto (1597): An angel plays violin for the sleeping Madonna and Child while Joseph holds the sheet music. Unusually gentle for Caravaggio — warm light, soft drapery, genuine tenderness. Caravaggio — Maddalena Penitente (1594-95): Mary Magdalene seated on the floor, hunched over, her jewelry discarded beside her. The most human representation of religious conversion in art — she looks exhausted, not beatific. The audio guide (narrated by a member of the Doria Pamphilj family) is one of the best in Rome — personal, witty, and it tells you which paintings the family actually likes living with.
Address: Via del Corso 305 (between Piazza Venezia and Piazza Colonna — walk past it and you'll miss the entrance). Tickets: €14 (includes audio guide — USE IT). Hours: daily 9am-7pm. Duration: 1.5-2 hours. Combine with: Pantheon (5min), Piazza Navona (5min), Piazza Venezia and Capitoline (5min), Via del Corso shopping.