Discover Palazzo Altemps (Museo Nazionale Romano)

The Museo Nazionale Romano was instituted in 1889 to house the antiquities of Rome, and Turismo Roma records that it holds the most important archaeological collection in the world, divided today across Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi and the Terme di Diocleziano.

This branch is a family palace. The museum has its seat inside the fifteenth-century Palace built for Girolamo Riario and passed in 1568 to the Altemps family, and it houses groups of collections of classical finds brought together here according to a criterion that allows both the formal aspects and the taste of the collectors of the time to be grasped.

Its greatest collection survives by a fraction. The Boncompagni Ludovisi collection comprised about 450 sculptures known throughout the world, which decorated the avenues and gardens of the villa of the same name. When the villa was destroyed at the end of the nineteenth century for the creation of the present Ludovisi quarter, part of the collection was dispersed.

What the State saved is here. Among the 104 sculptures the State managed to acquire, now displayed in the rooms of the Palace, are the Galata suicida, Orestes and Electra, Ares, the Head of Juno and the famous Greek original of the 5th century BC known as the "Ludovisi Throne".

The cardinal's own collection fared worse. That of Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps, displayed according to the furnishing criteria of the palace, originally consisted of 120 sculptures of the Greek and Roman period; fifteen are currently preserved, four of them visible under the arcades of the northern portico.

Three further collections fill the rest. In the porticoes of the courtyard and the rooms of the first floor are the works of the Mattei collection, gathered to decorate Villa Celimontana and previously housed at the Museo delle Terme di Diocleziano; the Del Drago collection of the 17th century; and a substantial group of the Museo Nazionale Romano's Egyptian collection, in particular the material from the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis of the Campus Martius and the finds from the excavation of the Syriac sanctuary of the Janiculum.

It is a fifteenth-century palace, and that is the exhibition space. Turismo Roma records that the museum has its seat inside the fifteenth-century Palace built for Girolamo Riario and passed in 1568 to the Altemps family.

The courtyard porticoes carry part of the collection. Four of the fifteen surviving sculptures of Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps's collection are visible under the arcades of the northern portico, and the works of the Mattei collection are displayed in the porticoes of the courtyard and in the rooms of the first floor.

The display method is architectural. The Altemps sculptures are shown with the furnishing criteria of the palace, and the collections as a whole are arranged according to a criterion that allows both the formal aspects and the taste of the collectors of the time to be grasped.

The arrangement is a reading of collecting. Bringing together the Boncompagni Ludovisi, Altemps, Mattei and Del Drago groups in one palace makes the history of Roman private collections legible in a single circuit.

The building came first and the museum came to it. The palace was built for Girolamo Riario in the fifteenth century and passed to the Altemps family in 1568 — a residence, not a gallery.

The collections were assembled separately, over centuries. Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps gathered 120 sculptures of the Greek and Roman period; the Mattei family collected to decorate Villa Celimontana; the Del Drago collection goes back to the 17th century; and the Boncompagni Ludovisi collection of about 450 sculptures decorated the avenues and gardens of the Villa Ludovisi.

Then one of them was broken up by building work. At the end of the nineteenth century the villa was destroyed for the creation of the present Ludovisi quarter, and part of the collection was dispersed. The State acquired 104 sculptures.

The Mattei pieces arrived here second-hand. They had previously been housed at the Museo delle Terme di Diocleziano before being displayed in this palace.

And a whole non-classical section was added. A substantial group of the Museo Nazionale Romano's Egyptian collection came here, in particular the material from the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis of the Campus Martius and the finds from the excavation of the Syriac sanctuary of the Janiculum.

When is it open? Tuesday to Sunday, 9.30–19.00, with last entry at 18.00. Closed on Monday.

How much does it cost? Turismo Roma publishes no price. It gives the official site and the museum's own ticketing page, so no figure is quoted here.

What is the Museo Nazionale Romano? An institution created in 1889 to house the antiquities of Rome, holding what the city calls the most important archaeological collection in the world, across Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi and the Terme di Diocleziano.

Whose palace was it? It was built for Girolamo Riario in the fifteenth century and passed in 1568 to the Altemps family.

What is the Ludovisi collection? A collection of about 450 sculptures known throughout the world which decorated the avenues and gardens of the Villa Ludovisi.

What happened to it? When the villa was destroyed at the end of the nineteenth century for the creation of the present Ludovisi quarter, part of the collection was dispersed. The State managed to acquire 104 sculptures.

What are the famous pieces? The Galata suicida, Orestes and Electra, Ares, the Head of Juno and the Greek original of the 5th century BC known as the "Ludovisi Throne".

What about the Altemps collection itself? It originally consisted of 120 sculptures of the Greek and Roman period; fifteen are currently preserved, four visible under the arcades of the northern portico.

What else is displayed? The Mattei collection in the courtyard porticoes and first-floor rooms, gathered to decorate Villa Celimontana; the Del Drago collection of the 17th century; and a substantial group of the museum's Egyptian collection.

Where did the Egyptian material come from? In particular from the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis of the Campus Martius and from the excavation of the Syriac sanctuary of the Janiculum.

Where is it? Via di Sant'Apollinare 8, just north of Piazza Navona.