National Museum of Rome / Museo Nazionale Romano

Attribution:

chelseaL

Rome

Italy

Key Dates

The museum was founded in 1889 and inaugurated in 1890, during the Risorgimento (the political and social movement that annexed different states to form modern Italy in the 19th century), with the aim of collecting antiquities from the 5th century BC to the 3rd century AD.

Its base was established in the 16th century cloister built by Michelangelo off the baths of Diocletian, still its main base. These buildings' adaptation to their new purpose began for the 1911 Exposition and were completed in the 1930s. In the 1990s, in a radical transformation, the museum's collections were divided between four different sites.

The three other sites are: The Crypta Balbi (inaugurated in 2001), the Palazzo Altemps (granted by the State to the museum in 1982 and inaugurated in 1997) and the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (constructed between 1883 and 1887, acquired by the state in 1981, restored 1983-1998 and inaugurated as part of the museum in 1995).

Key People

The finds displayed at the Crypta Balbi come from the dig led by the archaeologist Daniel Manacorda. The Palazzo Altemps was originally built by the Riario family and later rebuilt by the architect Martino Longhi for the cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps. The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme was built by the architect Camillo Pistrucci. The Baths of the Diocletian was established in a 16th century cloister built by Michelangelo.

The National Museum of Rome (Museo Nazionale Romano) is a set of museums in Rome, Italy, split between various branches across the city.
    The Crypta Balbi houses the archaeological remains and finds from a dig begun 1981 on a derelict city-centre site in the Campus Martius, between the churches of Santa Caterina dei Funari and San Stanislao dei Polacchi. There was discovered the colonnaded quadriporticus of the Theatre of Lucius Cornelius Balbus, the nearby statio annonae and evidence of later, medieval occupation of the site. Other artefacts that can be found there include: the collections of the former Kircherian Museum, the Gorga and Betti collections, the communal Antiquarium of Rome and frescoes removed in 1960 from the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata.
    The Palazzo Altemps houses sculptures from Renaissance collections such as the Boncompagni-Ludovisi and Mattei collections, including the Ludovisi Ares and the Suicide of a Gaul (from the same Pergamon group as the Dying Gaul), as well as the Egyptian Collection (sculptures of eastern deities). The palace also includes the historic private theatre (at present used to house temporary exhibitions) and the church of Sant' Aniceto.
    The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme accommodates sculpture collections (Republican, Empire and Late Empire) and coin and jewelry collections. One room is also devoted to the mummy that was found in 1964 on the Via Cassia, inside a richly decorated sarcophagus. Several artefacts in amber and numerous pieces of jewellery are also on display nearby.
    The Baths of the Diocletian (the original and main museum building) houses a sixteenth century garden and outdoor displays of altars and funerary sculpture and inscriptions. The hall of the baths is used mainly for temporary exhibitions. The Aula of Saint Isidore is a former chapel. Elsewhere are a Prehistory section, and Epigraphic Section and an Octagonal Aula, restored in 1991 and devoted to sculptures found on baths sites in Rome.

Related Structures

The Crypta Balbi, The Palazzo Altemps, The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme and The Baths of the Diocletian.

Admission Fee

Admission Free

Related Websites

Roma 2000

Images