THE ALTEMPS PALACE

Written by Piera Peri and Mauro Scarpati; proofreading by Jennifer Clark
Even if you have few days to visit Rome, you couldn't miss to see Piazza Navona, one of the most amazing squares of the city. There, amid the gorgeous Bernini's fountains: the Four Rivers and the Moro, the stately appearance of the Doria Pamphili Palace, the imposing Borromini' s church of Sant'Agnese in Agone, you will understand what really the baroque style means.

What you might not realize is that a few steps ahead, in the little half-hidden square called Piazza Apollinare, there is one of the less-known jewels of Rome: Palazzo Altemps. One of the four sites of the Roman National Museum (the others being Palazzo Massimo, Terme di Diocleziano and Centrale Montemartini); this museum has been opened in 1998, and is still often disregarded by the tourists agencies. What a pity because the palace itself is a precious testimony of the Roman Renaissance.

Above: Palazzo Altemps from Piazza delle Cinque Lune (P. Navona) 

Very well-known architects worked at the building of the Palace, starting in 1477 until 1568, when the Cardinal Marco Sittico Altemps finally saw his family palace finished. To tell you some of the names, Antonio da Sangallo il Vecchio (the Elder) designed the courtyard which was finally realized and executed by Baldassarre Peruzzi and Martino Longhi.

So the palace soon became the prototype of the Renaissance Palace, setting a hundred year long fashion. (Even if, during the building, the architects changed lot of time the outlet, according to the changes of the arisctochratic fashion.)

Of course, not only the architecture is so interesting for us: the museum shows, in its two floors exposition, some of the most interesting collections of roman sculpture. You know that during the Renaissance the subsoil of the city was setting free part of its treasures, hidden by the centuries; so in that period it became trendy to have a private collection of art in every noble family.

Above: Frescoed Loggia
Unfortunately in the XIX and XX centuries almost all the collections were split up to sell the highlights pieces (quite often out of Italy). The only real collection of the Roman Renaissance we have entact is that of the Borghese Family and can be visited in the Borghese Palace Gallery.

In our museum at the Palazzo Altemps there are statues from the main collections of the period: the Mattei, the Altemps and the Ludovici Boncompagni collections.

So, let's us see the museum!
In the courtyard, look up: the curious roof in clothes looks like a copy of the velarium, the roof in the Colosseum.

Entering, you will find in the ground floor some pretty sculptures; look for the Athena Parthenos, from the Ludovisi collection; discovered in the XVI century, it has been widely restored by Alessandro Algardi, a famous baroque artist.
The real masterpieces of the Museum are in the first floor: the statue of Hermes Loghios, the escort of the dead souls into the Ade (Hades), the misty world after the death in the classic religion; the amazing Oreste and Elettra, from the Ludovisi collection: on the sculpture there is the signature of the artist, Menelao, a I century a.C. sculptor; look at the Elettra hair: there are traces of colour there, just to remember you that in the Antiquity nearly all the statues were painted: during the centuries, of course, the colours faded, that's why we have the idea of the classic roman or greek sculpture in white, candid marble; but it's a fake idea; the same is true for the so-called Ares Ludovisi; here the god (Ares in greek, Mars in latin) is sitting on a sort of chariot: probably this was part of a group with Venus, from the temple of Mars in the Circo Flaminio, even if not all the art historians think the same; what we know for sure is that this Ares has been restored by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1622, when he was 24!

Right: Oreste and Elettra
Oreste and Elettra and Ares are shown in the "Sala della Piattaia" (The room of the plates), because of the fresco on a wall, a jump back in a aristochratic wedding party in the 1400: the artist painted here a cupboard with the plates used in the 1477 marriage of Girolamo Riario (the first owner of the Palace) to Carolina Sforza. Among the plates you can still see some of the presents the guests gave to the couple, including the wish-cards!

Above: Statue of Satyr
In the next room there is one of the masterpieces of this Museum, the so-called Trono (Throne) Ludovisi: the throne wasn't part of the collection, because it had been discovered in the XIX century, during the building of the Ludovisi district, built on the spot of the magnificent Villa Ludovisi; it's a wonderful sculpture with Afrodite coming out the water, and two maids covering her with a towel; to tell you the truth, the art historians are not 100% sure of its authenticity, especially because a perfect copy of this sculpture, conserved in Boston, has been identify as a fake imitation on roman art made in the XIX century by roman artisans. Whether authentic or imitation you will agree, the throne is wonderful.
The absolute masterpiece of the museum is few rooms ahead: the statue of the suicide of Galata; discovered with the dying Galata now in the Musei Capitolini in the area of the Villa Ludovisi, the huge statue shows the proud barbarian chief while he is committing suicide with his mate, to not be captured by the enemies; the statue was of the most famous sculptures of the Antiquity, placed first in the Villa of Julius Caesar, then in the Domus Aurea of Nero.

In the same room have a look at the fire-place...have you ever seen something so gorgeous?

Close to the Galata room there's the little private chapel of Saint Aniceto, noteworthy not only for its amazing beauty but also because of the presence of the mortal remains of Aniceto, one of the first popes: to find such a relic in a private chapel is very unique, and this is a proof of the importance of the Altemps family.

Above: The Suicide of Galata
Before to leave the Palace have a look at the wonderful Teatro Goldoni: this was a real theatre of the XVIII century, so called because Goldoni, the most famous comedy-writer of the period, worked here for some time. The theatre, recently restored, still shows us wonderful frescoes, and the magic atmosphere of a real three hundred years old theatre( as for me, just seeing the theatre is worth the visit!)

Not too bad for a little, half-hidden, little-known museum!
How to get there:

It's really easy to find the museum. Once in Piazza Navona, go to the Neptune fountain, then straight thru the narrow street of Via Agonale; in front of you, in the little square of Piazza Apollinare, you will see the red flag of the Roman National Museum.
Opening time: 9,00 a.m. - 6.30 p.m