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All Italy Rome Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica
AO Edited

Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica

An expansive collection donated by an heirless nobleman formed this admission-free civic museum.

Rome, Italy

Added By
Fred Cherrygarden
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A Phoenician lion head.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
A Phoenician lion head.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Pottery.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
A mosaic depicting Hermaphroditus.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The Museo Barracco, which specializes in ancient sculptural art, is one of Rome’s eight city-run, admission-free museums. The museum's collection, acquired by collector Giovanni Barracco, encompasses works from ancient Rome, Etruria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.

As a wealthy baron who never married and had no heir, Barracco donated his collection to the city in 1904, and continued to collect ancient statues, ceramics, and mosaics for the museum until his death. He also installed the first heating system within a museum in Italy, making the visitor experience that much more comfortable. 

Later, the museum was relocated to the Palazzo della Farnesina ai Baullari, an elegant Renaissance building established in the early 1530s. The museum stands on the site of a Roman domus, though no remains are visible.

Some of the collection highlights include a marble copy of the Wounded Bitch by famed Greek sculptor Lysippus, a polychrome Cypriot statue of a parade float, a granite portrait of a young Ramses II, a Phoenician lion, and Assyrian reliefs. 

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Museums And Collections Museums Sculptures Art Ancient

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The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and is free to the public. 

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Added By

Fred Cherrygarden

Published

July 2, 2024

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Museo Barracco di Scultura Antica
168 Corso Vittorio Emanuele II
Rome, 00186
Italy
41.896828, 12.472573
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