The Museum spans an area of over 3,000 square meters, divided into fifty-five rooms that house over 1,200 plaster casts of Greek sculptures (originals and Roman copies), found in museums and collections worldwide. The exhibition provides students and visitors with a concrete illustration of the historical development of Greek sculpture.
HISTORY
The "Museum of Plaster Casts" at La Sapienza was founded by Emanuel Löwy. From his appointment as Professor of Archaeology and Art History in 1889/1890, he worked to create a collection of plaster casts of Greek sculptures, both originals and Roman copies. This initiative followed the model of university glyptotheques (plaster cast collections) that had emerged in Europe—especially in Germany—as indispensable tools for teaching and research. The initial core of the Museum, progressively expanded by Löwy, who directed it until 1915, was set up in some rooms on Via Luca della Robbia in Testaccio. In 1925, it was moved to the Istituto S. Michele. A few years later, with the construction of the new University City (Città Universitaria), the collection found a new and more suitable home in the basement of the Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy building, where it remains to this day. From then on, the Museum adopted the name "Museum of Classical Art." The exhibition of the casts in the new location, set up in the summer of 1935, followed a traditional chronological order, consistently maintained by subsequent directors, including Giulio Quirino Giglioli, Giovanni Becatti, and Sandro Stucchi. This arrangement was also preserved after the extensive restoration and renovation project carried out between 1993 and 2000 by the then-director Andrea Carandini in collaboration with curator Marcello Barbanera.
THE COLLECTION
The entrance atrium, located on the rear side of the Humanities and Philosophy building, welcomes visitors with the plaster cast of the colossal kouros of Samos (c. 570 BCE), a sculpture discovered in 1980. The display cases along the walls primarily contain reproductions of statuettes and other artifacts, ranging from the Minoan and Mycenaean periods to the Classical Greek and Hellenistic eras, as well as a collection of gem impressions created by Tommaso Cades between 1829 and 1834.
Room I displays examples of Minoan and Mycenaean civilization (including the cast of the large relief from the Lion Gate of Mycenae) and Cretan sculpture from the Orientalizing period. The subsequent rooms (II-X) are dedicated to Archaic sculpture, including Attic, Eastern Greek, and Magna Graecian examples. From Room XI to XVIII, casts of Late Archaic and Severe Style sculptures are exhibited, including those of the pedimental statues from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina (with Thorvaldsen's integrations). In Rooms XIX-XXIV, casts of works by individual sculptors from the Severe and Classical periods, such as Myron, Phidias, Polyclitus, and Alkamenes, are arranged.
Following these are rooms presenting casts of Archaic and Classical steles, as well as the metopes and friezes of the Hephaisteion in Athens (XXV-XXVII). The path then leads to the large entrance atrium of the Museum at the front of the building, which notably houses casts of three colossal statues: the Athena of Velletri, the reconstruction of the Phidian Athena "Medici type," and the so-called Demeter of the Round Hall of the Vatican Museums (Room XXVIII).
The tour continues with casts of Classical sculptures from the Athenian Acropolis, including three of the Caryatids from the Erechtheion (Room XXIX), and funerary reliefs (XXXI-XXXIII). Room XXX (Parthenon Hall) is dedicated to the casts of the Parthenon sculptures. From the small room where numerous casts of sculptures from Epidaurus are displayed (XXXIV), visitors proceed to Rooms XXXV-XLIII, which offer an extensive illustration of 4th-century BCE sculpture (with casts of works by Skopas, Praxiteles, and Lysippos). From Room XLIV, which includes casts of the Pergamon Altar, up to Room LV, numerous reproductions of statues, portraits, and reliefs belonging to the entire Hellenistic period are visible. Finally, in the Odeion (Room LVI), there is a series of casts of works from the Roman period that re-interpret Classical and Hellenistic motifs (including the statue of Augustus from Prima Porta). In addition to these, the Museum preserves a series of "historical" reconstructions of Greek originals by Italian and foreign scholars.
The museum is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Museum Hub - Museum of Classical Art (in Italian)