Modern Art in the Eternal City

May 24, 2025 • Leave a Comment

“Modern” isn’t the word that usually comes to mind when describing art in the Eternal City, given the range, depth, and age of Rome's accumulated art. The Vatican Museum and the Galleria Borghese, among others, have world-class collections full of “classical” art that is well-known. And apart from Rome’s public spaces containing sculpture and Rome's other formal museums, the churches (and not just cathedrals and basilicas like St. Peter’s and Santa Maria Maggiore) are filled with remarkable art that is typically hundreds of years old.

Nonetheless, Rome does have a museum dedicated to modern art: the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea. Established in 1883, not long after the dawn of Impressionism, it presently displays (according to Wikipedia) about 1100 pieces of Nineteenth and Twentieth (and now some Twenty-First) Century paintings and sculpture. (The museum states that it holds more than 20,000 pieces, but certainly not that many are on display.) Sadly, it is a little under the radar of most time-limited tourists, despite its proximity to the Galleria Borghese; they are separated by only a brief and pleasant walk, through parked-out Villa Borghese grounds and past interesting trees. The Galleria Nazionale contains pieces by well-known non-Italian artists (such as Picasso, Mondrian, Monet, Pollack, Klimt, Giacometti, van Gogh), and some work by world-famous Italians (e.g., Modigliani, Canova). But, most importantly, it also displays work by wonderfully skilled Italian artists who deserve a lot more recognition and appreciation by casual American observers.

Here are a few semi-random images of the museum and its contents. And just for the record, my favorite is Mancini's Carminella (1870), a wonderful portrait.

An imposing facade. With lions. IMG_1151-2 IMG_1152 IMG_1155