Eight Days in Rome, Day 6

[Author’s Note: This post is the sixth of eight on this site that will recount a visit of Eight Days in Rome that transpired in September 2025. On that trip, my wife Carol, an art historian (PhD, Yale), contributed insights on art and other matters. Our son Matt, a prize-winning videographer contributed photos and insights. The overall narrative and construction are mine.] 

Galleria Barberini

​The Palazzo Barberini is a sumptuous baroque palace by architects Bernini and Borromini that provides a massive space for the Galleria Barberini collections. Unfortunately, the collections are spotty. Some works by famous artists are not their best, and many are by little known contributors. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a few high points like those below.

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La Fornarina (The Little Baker, 1519)  Raphael (1483-1520) painted La Fornarina (The Little Baker) between 1518 and 1519. The subject’s real name was Margherita Luti. She was his mistress and muse but refused to marry him.

​She sits here gazing aside with a bemused smile and turbaned head in a “modest Venus” (“Venus pudica”) pose of partial modesty. Raphael died a year later at 37 in 1520, which Renaissance biographer Georgio Vasari attributed to excessive womanizing. Four months later, Margherita retired to the convent of Saint Apollonia.

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​Henry VIII (1540) by Hans Holbein the Younger. Holbein was a German/Swiss painter and printmaker (1497-1543) who became one of the 16th century’s greatest portraitists. As such, Henry VIII appointed him King’s Painter.

​This portrait of Henry presents him in 1540 in full bloom at age 49. It is actually a copy of part of a much larger fresco that was destroyed by fire in 1698. It is not simply a painting but an iconic political manifesto of absolute authority that was produced in multiple numbers and distributed around the country. Henry stands in a frontal pose with a stern, fixed gaze in richly detailed clothing. Besides its propagandist purpose, the painting is noteworthy for Holbein's exquisite style and technique.

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Desiderius Erasmus (1517) by Quentin Massys. Erasmus (of Rotterdam) (1466-1536) was one of the most productive and influential thinkers and writers of the Northern Renaissance in the early 16th century. He became known as “The Prince of Humanists.”
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This painting was originally part of a “friendship diptych” with an associate (Antwerp town clerk Pieter Gillis). Erasmus and Gillis planned to send it as a gift to their longtime friend Sir Thomas More in London with whom they had collaborated in 1516 on the publication of the book Utopia. This gift was intended as a sort of “virtual visit” to celebrate the book’s publication. The books labeled on the shelves are all works by Erasmus. He is shown in black robes translating St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans, his eyes gazing in contemplation to the right edge of the picture.

Quentin Massys (also spelled Masys or Metsys) (1465-1530) was the foremost painter of the time and founder of the Antwerp School of painting, the leading painting school in Flanders in the 16th century.

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San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane

​Quatro Fontane is the name of a street. Four fountains sit on the 4 corners of the intersection of that street with another thoroughfare. San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane (San Carlino) sits on one of the 4 corners. It is a masterpiece of baroque architecture designed by architect Francesco Borromini during the 1630s. Both exterior and interior are noteworthy for their intersecting curves and convex-concave shapes. ​It's a visual treat and is definitely worth a visit.

Trattoria della Stampa, Via dei Maroniti, 32

Sometimes good things come in small packages and in unexpected ways. This place is one of them. I tried for days to get a dinner reservation at Trattoria della Stampa and the earliest spot for the next 4 days was 9 pm, nearly past our bedtime given our strenuous days. Today, we stopped by with no reservation on our way back from the Palazzo Barberini just before opening time at noon and we got in line. A few minutes later we were inside. Go figure.

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​The trattoria is evidently owned at least in-part by Roberto Scarnecchia, a former soccer midfielder who wore shirt number 11 for Roma, A.C. Milan, Napoli and Pisa. After retirement, he went to culinary school and opened several restaurants. His picture and newspaper clippings are plastered on the walls.

​The menu was traditional Roman fare, which is what our trip is all about. The restaurant is small and narrow, accommodating maybe 25 people. This was a great lunch. All three of the main dishes were top of the line. We had mezzo maniche both a la gricia and also amatriciana, and polpete al sugo plus a dish of spicy cicora ripassata. The bill for three persons: 71 euros.

​Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio de Loyola in Campo Marzio

We had passed this church at least 15 times walking between the Pantheon and the main artery Via del Corso. Every time, there was a line of people funneling through the main door. There was no conspicuous sign outside so we never knew what it was. We went inside today and discovered that it was Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio de Loyola in Campo Marzio, a baroque church built in the mid-17th century to honor the founder of the Jesuits.
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It has a frescoed, trompe l’oeil ceiling painted by Andrea del Pozzo between 1691 and 1694. People line up to view it so they can photograph themselves and the ceiling in a tilted mirror. The illusionistic ceiling fresco effectively impersonates a dome that had originally been proposed but was never constructed, presumably for lack of funds. It depicts the Apotheosis of St Ignatius, who is on a cloud near the Cross being welcomed to paradise by Christ and the Madonna.

​It has become a huge attraction on TikTok, Instagram and other social media where it is known as the “best selfie mirror in Rome” thanks to the background framing of the ceiling. We didn’t wait in line, but I did point my camera overhead and snapped this photo.

​It IS a pretty amazing trompe l’oeil ceiling, selfie or no selfie.

DIY Walking Tour

​In the late afternoon, we went for a DIY walking tour from the Pantheon to Via dei Coronari, then to Ponte Sant’Angelo on the Tiber River, and then back to Via dei Bianchi Nuovi and Via del Governo Vecchio. They were mostly pedestrian, high-end shopping streets.

​Dipping south towards the river, a quick stop at Neve di Latte on Via dei Banchi Vecchi, 140 landed a gelato pairing of lampone and limone di Almafi that was vastly refreshing.

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Supplizio, Via dei Banchi Vecchi, 143

​Nextdoor was the eatery Supplizio where we acquired a collection of cibo di strada (“street food”) fixings for the light dinner at home that we craved after our massive lunch.

​We got a suppli carbonara, a classico, an affumicata and a mozzarella in carrozza. These are fillings of diverse kinds that are coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried. They made a crunchy addition to other gatherings that we assembled with our vino bianco di Falanghina.

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Here is our simple table set for an impromptu feast!