Palazzo Massimo in Rome is a wonderful neo-Renaissance style palace built between 1883 and 1887 to a design by the architect Camillo Pistrucci .

Also known as Palazzo Massimo alle Terme , it was born as a college of the Jesuit fathers and retained this purpose until 1960.

In 1981 Palazzo Massimo was acquired by the Italian State, to become one of the seats of the National Roman Museum . The collections are distributed across the four floors of the building according to a chronological and thematic criterion: the ground floor, first and second floors are dedicated to the ancient art section; the basement houses the numismatics and goldsmith sections. In the exhibition on the ground floor you can follow the evolution of the Roman portrait from the late republican era to the beginning of the empire, to which the portraits of Augustus' family and the statue of the emperor as Pontifex Maximus date back.

Among the original Greek works imported to Rome, the Niobide from the Horti Sallustiani and the bronze statue of the Boxer stand out. The portrait theme continues on the first floor, where the development of the imperial image from the Flavian age to the late ancient era is illustrated. Ample space is dedicated to the "ideal" sculpture depicting gods and other mythical characters. Among the masterpieces of statuary that decorated the imperial residences are the Maiden of Anzio and the Roman copies of famous Greek works: the Discobolus Lancellotti, the Crouching Aphrodite and the Sleeping Hermaphrodite . Noteworthy are the bronze sculptures that decorated the Ships of Nemi and the sarcophagus of Portonaccio.

On the second floor , frescoes, stuccoes and mosaics document the decoration of prestigious Roman residences. An evocative installation recomposes the rooms of the Villa di Livia a Prima Porta and the Villa della Farnesina in their original dimensions.

Finally, the basement is dedicated to the Medagliere of the National Roman Museum, with a route marked by the salient stages of the economic history of our country. Luxury and goldsmithery are documented by sumptuous funerary objects, such as that of the Little Girl of Grottarossa, displayed next to the small mummy. A selection of objects linked to the habits and customs of the Romans illustrate the costs of daily life. The precious scepters presented in the Hall of Imperial Insignia enrich the picture of the "signs of power" in Roman times