Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (National Museum of Rome)
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (National Museum of Rome) is one of the narrated stops on the self-guided Rome audio walking tour in Gingerguide. Plan about ~90 min here. Press play at the spot for its two to three minute story, or ask the AI guide anything about it.
- Type museum
- Suggested visit ~90 min
- Rome Rome guide
About Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (National Museum of Rome)
One of the world's greatest collections of Roman antiquities, containing the most important Roman wall paintings in existence, the Discus Thrower, the Boxer at Rest, and the Augustus of Lepcis Magna.
The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme is the most important of the four buildings comprising the National Museum of Rome, containing what many scholars consider the finest collection of Roman art anywhere in the world. The building is a handsome late 19th-century palazzo near Termini station.
The museum's greatest treasures are on the fourth floor, extraordinary examples of Roman wall painting preserved in a specially controlled climate. These include: the complete painted garden room from the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta (c. 20 BC), showing a painted garden through which the viewer seems to look from inside a room, one of the most beautiful surviving paintings of antiquity; and the paintings from the Villa Farnesina, including tender erotic scenes and architectural fantasies.
The ground floor contains major sculptures including: the Discus Thrower (Discobolus), a 2nd-century AD Roman copy of the famous Greek bronze by Myron; the Boxer at Rest (c. 330–50 BC), one of the most remarkable surviving bronzes of the Hellenistic period, showing a beaten fighter at rest with his swollen features and bronze blood dripping from his wounds; and the Seated Boxer from Terme (another remarkable Hellenistic bronze). The coin and jewellery collections on the other floors are among the finest in the world.
Did you know? The bronze blood dripping from the wounds of the Boxer at Rest is literally red copper inlaid into the darker bronze, an extraordinary technical achievement of the Hellenistic period.
How long should you spend at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (National Museum of Rome)?
Plan about ~90 min at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (National Museum of Rome). That is enough to take it in and hear its narrated story; stay longer if it grabs you. The tour is self-guided, so there is no rush.
Is Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (National Museum of Rome) worth visiting?
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (National Museum of Rome) is one of the 47 sights the Gingerguide team researched and narrated in Rome, so it earns a place on a self-guided walk. Its story explains why it matters, and you can ask the AI guide anything the story leaves open.
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