The complete, precious collections of antique sculpture at Palazzo Altemps, one of the facilities of the National Museum of Rome.
[Antique sculpture at Palazzo Altemps] The complete, precious collections of antique sculpture at Palazzo Altemps, one of the facilities of the National Museum of Rome. Ever since the second half of the 1500s this building was earmarked by its owner, Marco Sittico Altemps, as a place for the display of many splendid Roman statues. Their arrangement was particularly striking: colored marble works, painted loggias, niches, pedestals, specially created multicolored columns and bases. Today the palazzo contains 15 pieces from the original Altemps collection, the Mattei collection in Villa Celimontana and the Del Drago collection, as well as the legendary Boncompagni Ludovisi collection, assembled by popes and cardinals, including pieces already considered symbols of the beauty of ancient Greece back in the 1600s. Masterpieces on display include: the Ludovisi Throne, the Athena Parthenos, the Galatian suicide scene and the renowned group of Orestes and Electra, a milestone for entire generations of sculptors. 250 full-color images, with scientific texts describing the origins, the scenes represented and the profound influence on painters and sculptors of each work.