Just north of Piazza Navona, the 15th-century Palazzo Altemps houses the best of the Museo Nazionale Romano’s formidable collection of classical sculpture.
The Museo Nazionale Romano: Palazzo Altemps rarely gets busy, allowing you to enjoy the muscular statuary, much of which comes from a collection amassed by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi in the 17th century, in relative peace.
Sculptural Highlights
Prize exhibits include the beautiful 5th-century-BCE Trono Ludovisi (Ludovisi Throne), a carved marble block showing a topless Venus (Aphrodite) being modestly plucked from the sea. In the neighboring room, the Ares Ludovisi, a 2nd-century-BCE representation of a young, clean-shaven Mars, owes its right foot to a Gian Lorenzo Bernini restoration in 1622.
Another affecting work is the 1st-century-BCE sculptural group Galata suicida (Gaul’s Suicide), a melodramatic depiction of a Gaul knifing himself to death over a dead woman. You’ll find it in a room just off the 1st-floor loggia, along with a colossal sarcophagus adorned with writhing scenes of battle between the Romans and barbarians.
The Palace
The building itself provides an elegant backdrop, with a grand central courtyard, a finely painted bust-lined loggia and frescoed rooms. These include the Sala delle Prospettive Dipinte, which was adorned with landscapes and hunting scenes for Cardinal Altemps, the rich nephew of Pope Pius IV (r 1560–65) who bought the palazzo in the late 16th century.
The museum also houses pieces from the Museo Nazionale Romano’s Egyptian collection and a small collection of archaeological finds.
