Slip away to a grande dame of a villa museum and garden in the heart of Roma that masses of tourists never flock to and spend an hour or two with sumptuous art and winding marble staircases, and then escape to the private back garden and artist studio on their grounds. Wander virtually alone in a secluded, quiet, lovely walk surrounded by pretty Baroque buildings and canopies of Italian trees.

There are sculptures and indoor fountains from classical antiquity collected by the powerful Sforza family, and many sumptuous allegorical and historical paintings by Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian, Tintoretto, El Greco, Guido Reni, and Elisabetta Sirani, both artists have been named as the mystery author of the classical portrait of famed Beatrice Cenci, the same painting worshipped by Shelley and Byron during the Romantic period.

The Palazzo Barberini is the perfect respite from the crowds and noise and heat of Roma without missing important art or pieces of classical antiquity, with the added bonus of your own (temporarily) private villa garden for contemplation … or romance!