Museums & Art Galleries in Rome & the Vatican

The Capitoline Museums have a long history, and are said to be the oldest public collection of archaeological artefacts in the World. They are certainly amongst the finest museums in Rome. The origins of the collections date back to 1471 when Pope Sixtus IV had 6 bronze Roman statues moved to the City Council on the Capitoline Hill. Now, many centuries later, there are over 1300 objects, most of which are from archaeological sites in Rome itself. The Capitoline Museums are in fact three different buildings, called palazzos, that surround the trapezoidal Piazza del Campidoglio

The Palazzo Barberini is one of two locations in Rome of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica. The collection, one of the most important in Italy, is made up of artworks made before 1800; no antiquities are included. Displays include works by Canaletto, Caravaggio, Raphael and Hans Holbein. Three of the most significant architects of the 1600s, Carlo Maderno, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, designed the palazzo for Pope Urban VIII. They created one of the most extraordinary 17th century residences widely considered to be the prototypical Baroque palace.

Built in the 1880s, Palazzo Massimo was inspired by Rome’s magnificent 16th century palaces. Built to house a Jesuit school, in 1981 it was bought by Italian Government and after an extensive renovation it became one of fours sites of the National Roman Museum. Spread over four floors are an extraordinary selection of sculptures, reliefs, frescos, mosaics, stuccoes and sarcophagi recovered from excavations in Rome and the surrounding area since 1870. Visitors will find many well-known pieces of Roman art, including the bronze Boxer at Rest, the Fasti Praenestini – an Augustan-era calendar showing Caesar’s reform of the 365-day year, the Sleeping Hermaphroditus and numerous busts from Hadrian’s Villa.

Founded in the early 16th century by Pope Julius II, the pubic museum of the Vatican City holds the vast collection of the Catholic Church. Of the estimated 70,000 only 20,000 are on public display. These include some of the most well known examples of Etruscan art, Roman sculpture and Renaissance masterpieces. One of the most well known sculptures is the Roman Laocoön and His Sons, the acquisition of which in 1506 is said to have been the origins of the Vatican Museums. The route through the museums include Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms of the Apostolic Palace. The museum also has an important collection of Egyptian antiquities.

This 16th century Mannerist villa on the Pincian Hill was the residence of residence of Cardinal Ferdinando I de’ Medici until 1803 when it housed the French Academy in Rome. As a highly acclaimed art centre, the villa hosts a range of cultural events from performances and festivals to temporary exhibitions. As a heritage site in the historic centre of Rome, visitors can also take guided tours one of the finest examples of a Renaissance villa. The complex is set within a 7-hectare Italian garden, joined to the more extensive Borghese gardens.