August 19th, 2009
Anxious To See Museums In Your Rome Tour? Here Are 8 Favorites!
Museo Nazionale Romano – Crypta Balbi (Roman National Museum – Crypta Balbi). When it was opened 9 years ago, this museum created a sensation since it approached the life of the ancient Romans from a somewhat different angle, compared to ordinary museums. In a historical and social sequence, it gives a true-to-life illustration of living habits and conditions of Roman families during the Imperial period and the Middle Ages. A section is also dedicated to commercial and manufacturing activities.
Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums). In all probability this is the oldest museum in the world since it came into being in 1471 when Pope Sixtus IV donated some ancient bronze statues to the people of Rome and had them placed on the Capitoline Hill. This was the beginning of what was to become an outstanding art collection to be housed in three buildings erected on top of the same Hill. In addition to the statues and other ancient works of art on show, the Museums are interesting also on account of the buildings themselves: they are generally considered excellent examples of the architectural styles and decorations prevailing at the time they were built.
Galleria Borghese (Borghese Gallery). The Borghese family was – and still is – one of Rome’s most prominent families. A member of the Family, that owned a huge park in Rome, had a palace built in the grounds of the park. This palace in time became what is now the Galleria Borghese, or Borghese Gallery. An elegant building in itself, the Galleria, however, is known for an excellent collection of ancient sculptures and of statues sculpted by Bernini (Apollo and Daphne) and Canova (Venus Victrix). The first floor houses numerous paintings by famous artists such as Caravaggio, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian and Rubens. Among their works we might mention Raphael’s Entombment of Christ, Caravaggio’s Boy with a Basket of Fruit and Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love.
Museo della Civilta Romana (Museum of the Roman Civilization). This museum illustrates the history of Roman Civilization from its origins up to 4th century A.D. Essentially, the museum is structured as follows: the historical sections, the sections by themes and a model of Imperial Rome. The historical sections provide illustrations of various significant stages in Roman history, while single themes are dealt with in individual rooms. The model of Imperial Rome in the age of Constantine I actually takes two rooms. This museum houses inter alia a model Archaic Rome, some artefacts of Imperial and early Christian art and a sequence of horizontal casts of the reliefs on Trajan’s Column.
Mercati di Traiano (Trajan’s Markets). The site offers an excellent opportunity to see how an urban area can over time be developed in completely different ways. This particular place was, at various times, a market, an office area, a residential suburb, a fortification, a religious building and military lodgings. Efforts have been made to illustrate as well as possible the different stages in the use of the area. In particular, archaeologists and researches have endeavoured to render everything clearly understandable to modern visitors.
Museo di Roma in Trastevere (Museum of Rome in Trastevere). Opened just over 30 years ago, this museum is located in an old Roman suburb named Trastevere. This is no coincidence. A special effort was made to place the museum in an area that was in harmony with the subject covered by the permanent exhibition. The museum is intended to illustrate the life of ordinary people during the second part of the 18th century and the 19th century. The exhibits displayed, which include a number of paintings and prints, offer an unbelievably different picture of Rome from what you can see these days. One room houses a crib set in 18th century Trastevere and the figures dressed in period costume.
Museo di Roma (Museum of Rome). Like most major cities, Rome is a growing city and changes take place almost imperceptibly every day. Since the early 20th century marked a turning point in the city’s evolution, it was felt that an appropriate museum should be built in order to collect as many items as possible to describe the changes that the city had undergone since the Middle Ages. The vast collection of ceramics, paintings, photographs, costumes and art-pieces successfully describes the continued transformation of Rome through the ages, both from a social point of view as well as from an architectural standpoint.
Museo Barracco (Barracco Museum). When early in the 20th century Giovanni Barracco, a nobleman from Calabria, donated an ancient collection of sculptures to the city of Rome, it became necessary to find a location for it. The Museum was thus located in its current seat, a fine example of Renaissance architecture. The collection includes works originally made in various parts of the Mediterranean and neighbouring areas. Some statues, for instance are Assyrian, others are Phoenician and others are from Egypt. Obviously there are also a number of splendid Greek, Etruscan and Roman statues.