Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Altemps

Just north of Piazza Navona, Palazzo Altemps is a gem. A beautiful, late-15th-century palazzo, it houses the best of the Museo Nazionale Romano’s formidable collection of classical sculpture. Many of the pieces come from the celebrated Ludovisi collection, amassed by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi in the 17th century. Prize exhibits include the 5th-century Trono Ludovisi (Ludovisi Throne), a carved marble throne depicting Aphrodite being plucked from the sea as a newborn babe. It shares a room with two colossal heads, one of which is the goddess Juno and dates from around 600 BC. The wall frieze (about half of which remains) depicts the 10 plagues of Egypt and the Exodus. Equally impressive is the sculptural group Galata Suicida (Gaul’s Suicide), a melodramatic depiction of a Gaul knifing himself to death over a dead woman. The building’s baroque frescoes provide an exquisite decorative backdrop. The walls of the Sala delle Prospettive Dipinte are decorated with landscapes and hunting scenes seen through trompe l’oeil windows. These frescoes were painted for Cardinal Altemps, the nephew of Pope Pius IV (r 1560–65) who bought the palazzo in the 16th century. The Egyptian collection from the Museo Nazionale Romano is also housed here, along with the Mattei collection, formerly at Villa Celimontana (the 16th-century estate of the powerful Mattei family).