The Museo di Roma is a museum in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, part of the network of Roman civic museums. The museum was founded in the

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

era with the aim of documenting the local history and traditions of the "old Rome" that was rapidly disappearing, but following many donations and acquisitions of works of art is now principally an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

. The collections initially included 120

water-colour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

s by the nineteenth-century painter

Ettore Roesler Franz Ettore Roesler Franz (11 May 1845 – 26 March 1907) was an Italian painter and photographer. He was among the most prolific Italian watercolorists and vedutisti of the late nineteenth century. Biography He was born to a family of German ances ...

of ''Roma sparita'', "vanished Rome", later moved to the Museo di Roma in Trastevere.

History

Ripa - palazzo Pantanella e s Maria in cosmedin 00913

The museum was founded by the

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, who was director of the Antichità e Belle Arti ("antiquities and fine arts department") of the government of Rome. It was the first civic museum of the city. It was housed in the , a large former pasta factory in

Piazza Bocca della Verità Piazza Bocca della Verità (Italian: ''Square of the Mouth of Truth'') is a square between Via Luigi Petroselli and Via della Greca in Rome (Italy), in the rione Ripa. The square lies in the ancient area of the Forum Boarium, the cattle market ...

, overlooking the

Circo Massimo The Circus Maximus (Latin for "largest circus"; Italian language, Italian: ''Circo Massimo'') is an ancient Roman chariot racing, chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine Hill, Avent ...

in the via dei Cerchi, in the Ripa rione of the city. The factory building also housed the Museo dell'Impero Romano, and was renamed "Palazzo dei Musei". The Museo di Roma opened on 21 April 1930; Muñoz was its first director. When the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

began in 1939, the museum closed. The museum re-opened only in 1952, in a new political climate and in a new location at

Palazzo Braschi Palazzo Braschi () is a large Neoclassical palace in Rome, Italy and is located between the Piazza Navona, the Campo de' Fiori, the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Piazza di Pasquino. It presently houses the Museo di Roma, the "Museum of R ...

, a Neoclassical palace near

Piazza Navona Piazza Navona () is a public open space in Rome, Italy. It is built on the site of the 1st century AD Stadium of Domitian and follows the form of the open space of the stadium in an elongated oval. The ancient Romans went there to watch the '' a ...

, built in the early years of the nineteenth century by

Luigi Braschi Onesti Don Luigi Braschi-Onesti (19 July 1745 – 9 February 1816), 1st Duke of Nemi, 1st Prince of Rocca Sinibalda, 1st Marquess of Belmonte Sabino, Count of Falcino, Marquess and Count Braschi-Onesti, Grandee of Spain 1st Class, 1st Prince of the H ...

, which since 1949 had already housed the new Galleria Comunale d'Arte Moderna.

Collections

The collection of the museum was at first intended only to illustrate and document the past. Thanks to numerous

bequest A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to thei ...

s, donations and acquisitions – among them a collection of some 5000 drawings,

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

s and old illustrated books belonging to Antonio Muñoz – the holdings of the museum now include many works of art, and it has become primarily an

. Artists represented include

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous Allegory, allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign vis ...

Giuseppe Bottani Giuseppe Bottani (1717 – 1784) was an Italian painter active in the Baroque period. Biography He was born in Cremona, and lived as a boy in Pontremoli. He was sent to study in Florence, where he was a pupil of Vincenzo Meucci and Antonio Pu ...

, Ippolito Caffi,

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italians, Italian Neoclassical sculpture, Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was ins ...

, Giuseppe Ceracchi,

Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari Giuseppe Bartolomeo Chiari (10 March 1654 – 8 September 1727), also known as simply Giuseppe Chiari, was an Italian painter of the late-Baroque period, active mostly in Rome. Biography Born in Rome, he was one of the main assistants, along wi ...

, Lievin Cruyl,

Felice Giani Felice Giani (17 December 1758 – 10 January 1823) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassic style. His grand manner subjects often included Greco-Roman allusions or themes. Biography Born in San Sebastiano Curone near Alessandria, he moved to ...

Pietro Labruzzi Pietro Labruzzi (1739–1805) was an Italian painter of the Neoclassical period, active in Rome and Poland. He is best known for his altarpieces and portraits. He was born and died in Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the ...

Francesco Mochi Francesco Mochi (29 July 1580 Montevarchi – 6 February 1654 Rome) was an Italian early-Baroque Sculptor (occupation), sculptor active mostly in Rome, Piacenza and Orvieto. His dramatic early works in Orvieto are now often regarded as the first ...

Giovanni Paolo Panini Giovanni Paolo, also known as Gian Paolo Panini or Pannini (17 June 1691 – 21 October 1765), was an Italian Baroque painter and architect who worked in Rome and is primarily known as one of the ''vedutisti'' ("view painters"). As a painter, Pani ...

Bartolomeo Pinelli Bartolomeo Pinelli (November 20, 1781 – April 1, 1835) was an Italian illustrator and engraver. Life Pinelli was born and died in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, the son of an artisan who modeled religious statues. Pinelli was educa ...

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric " ...

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

and

Nicola Salvi Nicola Salvi or Niccolò Salvi (6 August 1697 (Rome) – 8 February 1751 (Rome)) was an Italian architect; among his few projects completed is the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy. Biography Admitted to the Roman Academy of Arcadia in 1717 ...

(designer of the

Trevi Fountain The Trevi Fountain () is an 18th-century fountain in the Trevi (rione of Rome), Trevi district in Rome, Italy, designed by Italian architect Nicola Salvi and completed by Giuseppe Pannini in 1762 and several others. Standing high and wide, it i ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Rome