Museo di Roma – Palazzo Braschi

Palazzo Braschi houses the Museum of Rome, whose collections document the city's social and artistic history from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. The museum holds more than 100,000 works, including paintings, prints, photographs, furniture, clothing, ceramics, carriages and frescoes rescued from demolished buildings.

Why it matters

The museum presents Rome's urban and social history through art and material culture. Its location between Piazza Navona and Corso Vittorio Emanuele II places that collection inside one of the city's major late-eighteenth-century palaces.

What to notice

The thematic displays include Pompeo Batoni's portrait of John Staples, Ippolito Caffi's Festa degli artisti a Tor de' Schiavi, Felice Giani's Altare patrio in piazza San Pietro per la festa della Federazione, and Pierre Hubert Subleyras's scene of San Camillo de Lellis during the 1598 Tiber flood. Giuseppe Valadier contributed to the palace's monumental staircase. The museum shows works in rotation, so displays change over time.

Context and history

Pope Pius VI commissioned the palace for his nephew, Luigi Braschi Onesti. It was designed by Cosimo Morelli and is considered one of the last major expressions of papal nepotism. The Museo di Roma opened in 1930 in the former Pastificio Pantanella at Piazza della Bocca della Verità. It later moved to Palazzo Braschi, where a thematically organised display opened in 2017 after restoration.