Museo Nazionale Romano Palazzo Altemps

( national roman museum - palazzo altemps )

 

The building was built over continuing periods between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries through the unification of several medieval houses built in the area close to a fortified system that divided the Orsini property from that of the Colonnas.

It had various owners including Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps and his nephew Giovanni Angelo.

Recent restoration work supervised by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage has brought the building back to its sixteenth century style, by eliminating modifications and superfetations which had altered its appearance.

It houses units together in this exhibition centre according to a criterion that allows visitors to perceive both the formal aspects and the taste of collectors of the time.

The famous Boncompagni­Ludovisi collection is particularly valuable. Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi collected a considerable amount of valuable antique marble that he kept in his property on the Colle Quirinale.

The collection included about 450 world renowned sculptures that decorated the paths and gardens of the Villa.

The sculptures were then restored and missing parts were reinstated by some of the most important sculptors of the time like Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Alessandro Algardi, Ippolito Buzzi.

Part of the collection was lost when the Villa was destroyed at the end of the nineteenth century in order to allow the construction of the present-day Ludovisi district.

The state managed to acquire 104 sculptures that the State managed to acquire which are now exhibited in the rooms of the Palazzo, among these, one can admire the group of the suicidal Gaul with his wife, Orestes and Electra, Ares and the head of Juno, and the famous Greek original from the V century BC and the so-called "Trono Ludovisi" from excavations carried out in the area.

The collection of Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, which is displayed with the criteria the rich furnishings of the Palace, originally consisted of 120 sculptures from the Greek and Roman eras.

Currently 15 sculptures are kept, four of which can be seen under the arches of the northern portico.

Works relating to the Mattei collection, which were assembled by the family in order to decorate Villa Celirnontana, and which were previously housed in the Museum of the Baths of Diocletian are now exhibited in the porticos of the courtyard and in the rooms on the first floor.

Another important unit is that of the Del Drago Collection dating back to XVII century, it was initially housed in the building in Via Quattro Fontane.

ln Palazzo Altemps one can also admire a substantial core of the Egyptian collection belonging to the Roman National Museum: in particular the materials from the Sanctuary of Isis and Sera pis in Campo Marzio and the finds from the excavation of the Syriac sanctuary of the Janiculum. (it)

Information and Addresses

Address Piazza di S. Apollinare, 44

Visiting Hours Every day from 9.00 am to 7-45 pm Closed Monday, Dec. 25,Jan.1

Telephone 06 6833759; Bookings 06 39967700

Price € 7,00; concessions € 3,50; cumulative ticket for branches of Museo Nazionale Romano valid for three days

 

 

For Tours information – private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting in line - VIP services

www.tourinrome.com www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com  www.vaticanmuseumticket.com