Discover These Museums Online During Lockdown
While the lockdowns imposed during the past twelve months have limited our ability to experience all Rome has to offer, many exquisite art exhibitions housed in the city are available to tour via the New Virtual Tours of Civic Museums. The site, launched on February 16th, is an online platform that allows users to virtually discover eight different museums. All through a click of a mouse or a tap on your smartphone!
The incredible technology allows for a 360-degree viewing of the pieces, which features museums: Capitoline, Ara Pacis, Napoleonic, Trajan’s Market-Museum of the Imperial Forum, Casino Nobile di Villa Torlonia, Centrale Montemartini, Museum of the Walls and Museum of Rome. Through the impressive 360 technology offered by the virtual tour, you are able to really visualize the magnitude and impressive collections that each museum has to offer.
Capitoline Museums
The virtual tour of the Capitoline Museums allows the user to explore the vast collection of art pieces held within, from paintings and sculptures to pieces from ancient Egypt. A highlight while virtually exploring this museum includes the chapel located within Capitoline’s Palazzo dei Conservatori. The chapel is decorated with beautiful frescos that cover the entirety of the ceiling as well as intricate stucco designs created between 1575 and 1578 by artists Michele Alberti and Jacopo Rocchetti. Another mesmerizing room captured by the visual tour is the Hall of Emperors which is located within Capitolne’s New Palace. Simply by clicking your mouse upon each structure, you are able to learn the name of the piece, a short description of its style and significance as well as the time period it is from.
Ara Pacis
As you virtually make your way through the Ara Pacis Museum, you are able to explore the building and its compositions in a more in depth way than you would if visiting in person, as the virtual tour allows you to experience everything not only from ground level, but also from above, really allowing the visitor to get a grasp at how impressive each structure is. By clicking upon your mouse or tapping on your screen, you are provided with an up close and high definition image of every corner of each piece, allowing you to see that these pieces have survived thousands of years and done so with such grace and beauty.
Napoleonic Museum
Upon your arrival into the Napoleonic Museum, you are directed through the ‘Points of Interest’ dropdown, which leads you into each exquisitely decorated room. While each museum displayed as part of this virtual tour opportunity is quite impressive, the Napoleonic Museum is rather memorable in that it allows you to explore history and stories lasting over a century through the three distinct periods displayed throughout which include: The Napoleonic Period, the first empire or the so-called “Roman” period and lastly the Second Empire period. There is really something of interest for everyone within his museum, as shown through the variety of pieces and time periods offered, from the Costume Gallery to the stunning oil canvas paintings depicting figures like Elisa Bonapoarte Baciocchi.
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Trajan Markets
The Trajan Markets Museum of the Imperial Forum is known for being rather large, however visitors do not need to worry about missing anything held within this impressive site. You are even able to see a stunning panoramic view of both the Trajan’s Terrace as well as the Trajan’s Forum level, allowing you to not only see breathtaking views of one of the oldest cities in Europe. Within each room, there is an introduction provided that features a detailed video of the historical and archaeological background of the space and pieces held within it.
Villa Torlonia Museum
The Casino Nobile at Villa Torlonia is absolutely remarkable, from the Ballroom to the bedroom of Prince Giovanni Torlonia which features a 20th-century walnut and elm bed originally housed in the Palace of Villa Torlonia. Within each room you are able to click on a small icon with an ‘i’ that provides you with a detailed background of the room in which you are in, allowing you to learn the various artists involved as well as the different architectural layouts and design choices incorporated.
Centrale Montemartini
Centrale Montemartini features something quite memorable, an aerial view of the 4th-century mosaic provided by images captured by a drone. You are able to experience this piece and visualize its sheer magnitude, as well as use of different materials such as colored marbles and limestone in a way unlike any other.
Museum of Walls
The Museum of Walls virtual tour also provides viewers with an aerial view of the site, which also features a remarkable view of the city of Rome. Visitors to this site were able to walk the ancient patrol route that crosses the four towers of the walls and while you are not currently able to physically make your way through this route, there is a video provided that really allows you to feel like you are at the site itself taking in all of the history.
Museum of Rome
The last museum featured as part of this immersive remote experience is certainly not to be forgotten. From the enchanting and incredibly intricate frescos displayed within the Hall of Landscapes to the sprawling oil on canvas paintings housed within rooms like The Party in the Square, you could spend hours virtually exploring The Museum of Rome.
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