Aug/090
Want To See Museums In Your Tour Of Rome? Here Are 8 Musts!
Museo Nazionale Romano - Crypta Balbi (Roman National Museum - Crypta Balbi). Opened only a few years ago, this museum is particularly impressive because it provides a reconstruction of the general background as well as the daily life of the ancient Romans. It is divided in three sections and each contributes to the general picture with archaeological findings of all kinds and with plastic models of dwellings and other structures. The whole exhibition covers a span of time down to the Middle Ages.
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). Located inside the park by the same name, this is one of the most interesting museums in Rome. Its ground floor houses a collection of ancient statues and renowned sculptures by Bernini and Canova. Among the most celebrated of these works we might mention Bernini's Apollo and Daphne and Canova's Venus Victrix, representing Pauline Bonaparte. On the upper floor you will find famous paintings by Raphael, Titian, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Bernini, Canova and Rubens. Caravaggio's Boy with a Basket of Fruit, Titian's Sacred and Profane Love and Raphael's Entombment of Christ are only some of the masterpieces on show.
Museo della Civilta Romana (Museum of the Roman Civilization). It is difficult to imagine a museum that may encompass the whole span of Roman civilization from its very start up to the 4th century (in other words, the complete story of the rise and decline of Rome). Yet, this is exactly the period of time covered by the exhibits at this museum. Of its three sections, the first one shows all the main stages of Roman history, the second one concentrates on all major themes of historical, social and religious interest and the third contains a model of the city of Rome in the 4th century A.D. Among other interesting exhibits you will find horizontal casts of the reliefs of Trajan's Column.
Mercati di Traiano (Trajan's Markets). This is one of the best archaeological sites in Rome and probably in the world. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the whole area of the Markets has been continuously used from its origins right up to our days, but for completely different purposes. It began as a market with additional administrative and social uses, then became, in turn, the residence of noble families, a fortress, a convent, military barracks. This open air museum intends to provide a cross-section of an administrative and commercial area as well as a life-like reconstruction of ordinary living in the city of Rome in Imperial times.
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). Founded in 1930, the purpose of the museum was twofold: to link the increasingly more forward-looking city of Rome with its past and to ensure that ample evidence of its past be collected and handed down to posterity. You will find that the collection of works of art, ceramics, costumes, paintings, photographs, furniture and even trains and carriages illustrates the significant changes that have marked the life of the city from the Middle Ages right up to half-way through the 20th century. Obviously, the paintings and sketches will provide an ongoing description of the changes that affected the architectural structure of the city itself as well as the surrounding countryside.
Museo Barracco (Barracco Museum). This museum is located in an elegant Renaissance palace that a high French church official built in 1523 as his living quarters during his frequent visits to Rome. After a history of sales by various owners and finally a purchase by the Italian Government in the late 19th century, it became the seat of the Museum after World War II. The Museum houses a rich collection of ancient sculptures (Assyrian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Etruscan, Greek and Roman). The Museum is named after a wealthy gentleman from Calabria who donated the collection to the Municipality of Rome.