by Cristiano Rubbi
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). Suppose you are in Rome and you wish to visit a museum exhibiting some of the art treasures that you have always wanted to see, where would it be best for you to go? The answer is extremely simple. Take your pick. Rome has been called an open-air museum, with so many ancient buildings, monuments and archaeological remains to be admired everywhere around the city that you have an embarrassingly wide choice. However, if you are near the Capitoline Hill, we suggest you pay a visit to the Capitoline Museums. They are a complex of buildings hosting a fantastic collection of Egyptian, Greek and, above all, Roman sculptures, Roman artefacts, such as jewels and medals, as well as other works of art, including a bronze equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which was restored in recent years.
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). 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). This museum was opened 32 years ago to collect many paintings, prints and watercolors made between the latter half of the 18th century and the end of the following century. The overall picture of the city that you will gather from a visit to the museum will probably surprise you. The pre-industrial Rome was a picturesque, colorful city that had little to share with the bustling city you will notice all around you at present. The general arrangement of the museum is intended to reconstruct scenes of daily living in the Trastevere area of Rome. Among other exhibits, there are copies of some so-called “talking statues”. These statues were used by the Roman populace to pin leaflets containing biting lampoons and sharp criticism of Government officials and their administration.
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.
About the Author:
Cristiano Rubbi - Having travelled extensively, Cristiano has always visited museums everywhere. These are his suggestions for your visit to Rome. For touring information visit
his WEBSITE or join
his FORUM or email him at info@niceandeasytravel.it. Want a Tour of Rome? Just
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Tags: Antiquity, art, Culture, History, Italy, Painting, Rome, Rome Museums, Rome Travel, Tour of Rome, Travel, Travel Suggestions
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