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The
Altemps Palace
by
Piera Peri - © Nerone The Insider's Guide to Rome
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 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: but maybe you will gladden to konw that 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 seats of the Roman National Museum (being the others Palazzo Massimo, Terme di Diocleziano e Centrale
Montemartini); this museum has been opened in 1998, and is still a little too disregarded by the tourists
agencies, what is a pity because the palace itself is a precious testify of the Roman Renaissance.
Very well-known architects worked at the building of the Palace, starting in 1477 till 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) projected the courtyard, realized then by Baldassarre Peruzzi and Martino
Longhi.
So the palace became soon the prototype of the Renaissance Palace, setting a one hundred years 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 became trendy to have a private collection of art in every noble family.
Unfortunately in the XIX and XX centuries almost all the collections were split up to sell the highlights
(quite often out of Italy); the only real collection of the Roman Renaissance we have entact is the Borghese one, in the Borghese Palace
Gallery.
In our museum 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!
The Museum
In the courtyard, look up: the curious roof in clothes looks like a copy of the
velarium, the roof in the Colosseum (see in this issue, "Sangue e Arena: a
exhibit).
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, 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 fell down, 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 truth fot 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!
Oreste and Elettra and Ares are showed 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 marriage of Girolamo Riario (the first owner of the
Palace) with Carolina Sforza, occurred in 1477; amid the plates you can still see some of the presents the guests gave to the
couple, including the wish-cards!
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 has 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, specially 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; but the same, the throne is wonderful.
The absolute masterpiece of the museum is few rooms ahead: the statue of the suicide
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.
This two statues, with a third now disappeared, was a copy of a bronze sculpture in Pergamo, in the sanctuary of Athena
Nikephoros; Caesr himself wanted a copy of it to remind his victory against the barbarian tribes of the Galli.
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 was really an unique, and this is a proof of the importance of the Altemps family.
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-wryter of the period, worked here for some
times; 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 the theatre worths the visit!)
Not too bad for a little, half-hidden, less-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.
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