Palazzo Altemps

Frommer's Review

This branch of the National Roman Museum is housed in a 15th-century palace that was restored and opened to the public in 1997. It is home to the fabled Ludovisi Collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. Among the masterpieces of the Roman Renaissance, you'll find the Ares Ludovisi, a Roman copy of the original dated 330 B.C. and restored by Bernini during the 17th century. In the Sala delle Storie di Mosè is Ludovisi's Throne, representing the birth of Venus. The Sala delle Feste (the Celebrations' Hall) is dominated by a sarcophagus depicting the Romans fighting against the Ostrogoth Barbarians; this masterpiece, carved from a single block, dates back to the 2nd century A.D. and today is called Grande Ludovisi (Great Ludovisi). Other outstanding art from the collection includes a copy of Phidias's celebrated Athena, which once stood in the Parthenon in Athens. (The Roman copy here is from the 1st c. B.C. because the original Athena is lost to history.) The huge Dionysus with Satyr is from the 2nd century A.D.

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