Palazzo Barberini's Salone Pietro da Cortona Reinstalled with Barberini Tapestry Cartoons

After many years and significant restoration efforts by the Laboratorio delle Gallerie Nazionali, the preparatory cartoons for the Life of Urban VIII cycle—linked to the circle of Pietro da Cortona—have been reintroduced to the Salone Pietro da Cortona at Palazzo Barberini in Rome. This initiative is intended to revive the hall's original purpose of honoring the Barberini dynasty. The cycle showcases the artistry of the Barberini tapestry workshop, blending biography and allegory to exalt the pope and his lineage. These cartoons, created for fabric adaptation using the "basso liccio" method, have been preserved for more than three centuries. Thomas Clement Salomon remarked: "It is a historical reinstallation... enhancing one of the most notable biographical cycles of the 17th century."