Palazzo Massimo alle Terme

Palazzo Massimo alle Terme Review

The enormous collections of the Roman National Museum—which range from striking classical Roman sculptures and paintings to marble bric-a-brac and fragments picked up in excavations over the centuries—have been organized in four locations: Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Palazzo Altemps, Crypta Balbi, and the Museo delle Terme di Diocleziano. The vast structure of the Palazzo Massimo holds the great ancient treasures of the archaeological collection and also the coin collection. Highlights include the Niobid, the famous bronze Boxer and the Discobolus Lancelloti. Pride of place goes, however, to the great ancient frescoes on view. These include decorative stuccos and wall paintings found in the area of the Villa della Farnesina (in Trastevere) and the legendary frescoes from Empress Livia's villa at Prima Porta, delightful depictions of a garden in bloom and an orchard alive with birds. Their colors are remarkably well preserved. These delicate decorations covered the walls of cool, sunken rooms in Livia's summer house outside the city.