museum of rome - braschi palace

( Museo di Roma - Palazzo Braschi )

 

The Museum documents, with various exhibits, the cultural, social and historical-artistic life of Rome from the Middle Ages until the first half of the twentieth century.

It has been housed, since 195 in the rooms of Palazzo Braschi, which has recently reopened to the public after a closure of 15 years and a careful intervention I restoration.

The palace was designed by architect Cosimo More (Imola 1732-1812) in the last decade of the XVIII century, between Piazza Navona and Corso Vittorio Emanuele, this area was previously occupied by Orsini Palace and was constructed for Luigi Braschi Onesti, the nephew of Pope Pius VI (1775-1796).

A element of the building, which in many rooms preserves the tempera decoration realized between the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth century, is the spectacular grand staircase to the entrance, even Giuseppe Valadii worked on the final phase of the staircase around 1804: the structure is constructed on 18 columns of Asian red granite from one ( the courtyards of S. Spirito), while the pillars of the walls are made from slabs of granite which had been removed from the Colonn Antonina.

The capitals that rise above the columns and pillars al decorated with the heraldic coats of arms of the Braschi family (plants stirred by the breath of the Boreas) and Onesti family, while the rich decoration of the wall and of the vault comprises marble, ancient statues, bas-reliefs an stucco panels representing stories from the life of Achilles, in most cases these are the work of Luigi Acquisti.

The main entrance ha of the palace, which overlooks the side on Via S. Pantaleo, present an oval plan and is adorned with 10 columns with Doric capitals and white marble bases: placed inside it is the great sculpture representing the Baptism of Christ, as well as the statutes of St. Peter and St. Paul which were all sculpted by Francesco Mochi and date from around 1640, they were commissioned by the Church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini.

The Palace in its recent reopening to the public also offers an exhibition entitled "The Museum narrates the city which documents the most significant aspects of the history and culture of Rome between 1600 and 1800 through a collection of about four hundred works of painting, sculpture, graphics, photography and decorative arts; the Museum's permanent collection includes more than a hundred thousand works including paintings, sculptures, engravings, photographs, furniture, clothes and much evidence of the urban and topographic transformations that concerned the city between the end of the nineteenth century and the 1930s. The double portrait of Pope Benedict XIV and his secretary Cardinal Silvio Valenti Gonzaga, well known patron of artists and literary men, are among the paintings on display.

The portraits were painted by Giovanni Paolo Pannini and date from between 1750 and 1760.

Other notable portraits are also on display such as: the portrait of Pius VII painted by Pompeo Batoni from Lucca, in 1775, the year of the election of Pope Braschi, the Giostra del Saracino in Piazza Navona by Andrea Sacchi from about 1634, the views of Rome by Ippolito Caffi datable to the mid nineteenth century and the three great paintings representing Venus giving Helen to Paris, the rape of Helen and the death of Achilles painted by the Scotsman Gavin Hamilton between 1782 and 1784.

The Palazzo Braschi also houses the Gabinetto Comunale delle Stampe (30,000 works including drawings, water colors, engravings and ancient books) and the Municipal Photographic Archive which includes an important foundation for the urban and topographic history of Rome and numerous photographs of the Roman context organized along the themes of the view, archaeology and the portrait.

Information and Addresses

Address Piazza San Pantaleo, 10

Visiting Hours Every day; Dec. 24 and 31 from g.oo am to 2.00 pm

Closed Monday, Dec. 25, Jan. 1, May 1 Telephone 06 82059127; Fax 06 67108303 Price € 6,50; concessions € 4,50

 

 For Tours information – private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting in line - VIP services

www.tourinrome.com www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com  www.vaticanmuseumticket.com

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